*$  ^  wiif  *^  li^r^  uir^sMrp«»*iUir ^iuli^^lliu 


J'l  ^i  f«2  f  vi  >\/^  r4  '  t"i  i'C/^  t^ !  id  ii^A  f4  f  t-i  A'A  hJ  t  ti  ;.•' 

H^^^BM^^^^m^^PI 

'  •  ! 


•'••*'••""''  •*  M*£*  '      ' 

'  .  .         :     i  •  -, 

' 


-  %r*&&*&*te<>^^ 

i    UniueFgitu 
1 


GLANCE    BACKWARD 


AT 


FIFTEEN  YEARS  OF  MISSIONARY  LIFE 


IN 


NORTH  INDIA. 


BY   THE 


REV.  JOSEPH  WARREN,  D.  tatf 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 

No.  265  CUESTHUT  STREET. 

1856. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 
JAMES  DUNLAP,  TEEAS. 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 


6V 
32. 

VJ3/3 


NOTE. 


SOUNDS   OP   LETTERS   IN   HINDUSTANI   WORDS. 
A,   a,  sounds  like  «    in  butter. 


A' 

Ch, 
E,  e, 


0,  o 


a    in  father. 
cJi  in  church, 
at  in  pam. 
y    in  good. 
i    in  jn'n. 
ee  in  seen. 
o    in  note. 


Q,  q,  has  the  sound  of  k  thrown  back  in  the  throat. 
U,  u,     sounds  like  u    in  pull. 
U',  u,          "         "    oo  in  fool. 
Ai,  "         "     t     in  tome. 

Au,  "         "     oto  in  now. 

N.  B.  Some  consonants  have  peculiar  sounds,  which  cannot 
be  imitated  by  mere  readers,  and  it  has  not  been  thought  worth 
while  to  mention  them.  Names  of  places,  which  have  obtained 
a  current  orthography  in  English,  have  been  written  accord- 
ingly here,  however  incorrect.  For  instance  Benares,  correctly 
written,  would  be  Banaras,  in  three  syllables. 


ERRATA. 


Page  47,  line  12,  for  swarz  read  swarff. 

Page  59,  line  3  from  bottom,  for  found  read  formed. 

Page  60,  line  4,  &c.,  for  kcmda  read  kanda. 

Page  71,  line  18,  for  might  had,  read  might  have  had. 

Page  78,  line  5  from  bottom,  for  Bet  read  Beg. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Time  of  sailing.  The  party  of  missionaries.  Notice  of  Mrs. 
Scott  and  Mrs.  Freeman.  Plan  and  object  of  this  work. . . .  13 — 15 

CHAPTER  II. 

HOUSE-KEEPING   AND   LEARNING   THE   LANGUAGES. 

Commencement  of  house-keeping.  Description  of  a  Bungalow: 
floors,  ceiling,  walls.  Kitchen.  Servants,  why  so  many.  The 
water-carrier.  Ignorance  of  the  language.  Our  new  house  and 
furniture.  The  carpets.  The  carpenter:  his  tools  and  his  caste. 
Another  carpenter,  and  Brahmanical  extortion.  The  theft.  The 
charge  of  burglary.  First  lessons  in  Hindustani.  History  of 
Patthras.  My  Munshis  and  studies.  Hinderances.  The  marriage 
of  missionaries 16 — 43 

CHAPTER  m. 

THE    PRINTING-HOUSE. 

Reasons  of  my  accepting  and  leaving  it.  Proposed  Press  at 
Benares  taken  over.  Increase  of  printing.  Language  and  dia- 
lects. The  alphabets  used.  Native  characters  unfit  for  printing. 
A  specimen  of  spelling.  The  Roman  alphabet.  Comparative 
expense  of  alphabets.  Commencement  of  the  establishment.  The 
first  thing  printed.  The  Persian  compositor.  The  first  job-work. 
Difficulties.  Some  Mohammedans  turn  Christian  in  order  to  drink. 
Another  bad  professed  convert.  History  of  Dillu.  Native  evasion. 
Building  a  printing-house.  How  lime  is  made  and  cheating  done. 
The  room  for  preaching.  The  depository.  White  ants.  Additions 
to  the  establishment.  Early  works  printed.  The  type-foundry. 
Effect  of  the  Press.  Orphan  asylum  and  bindery.  The  new  print- 
ing house.  Job-work.  Reasons  for  doing  it 43 — 72 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CATECHISTS:    THEIR   TRAINING,    CHARACTER   AND    USEFULNESS. 

Importance  of  native  helpers.  Limited  choice  of  them.  Common 
mode  of  training.  System  adopted  by  the  Synod.  Success  only 
partial.  A  Seminary  necessary.  •  Usefulness  of  Catechists.  Their 
difficulties.  Catechists  as  literary  assistants.  Their  location  at 
sub-stations.  Account  of  a  fall  and  recovery.  The  young  Afgan. 
Another  Catechist.  Singular  history  of  another.  Hari  Das:  the 
murder  of  a  lord ;  the  effect  of  long  habit.  A  sad  and  a  pleasant 
history  connected.  Remarks  on  what  we  ought  to  expect... 72 — 96 

CHAPTER  V. 

CHURCH   BUILDINGS,    AND    PREACHING    AT    THE    STATIONS. 

Necessity  of  places  of  worship.  Purchase  of  mission-house,  and 
settlement  of  orphan  asylums.  The  old  mint.  The  English  congre- 
gation, and  their  church  edifice.  Their  removal  to  Agra.  Building 
of  the  mission  church.  The  chapel  near  the  printing-house.  The 
Chauk  and  its  chapel.  The  Musalmani  convert,  and  the  chapel  at 
Kyd  Ganj.  English  services.  Hindustani  services.  Christian 
musicians.  Preaching  to  the  heathen:  hinderances  and  helps; 
street  preaching ;  interruptions ;  specimens  of  disputes ;  the  lying 
objector;  Sunni  and  Shia  differences;  insults;  two  villages  near 
Allahabad;  preaching  at  ghats;  to  women;  bathing;  preaching  at 
the  Chauk  chapel ;  preaching  in  surrounding  villages ;  preaching 
on  horseback;  the  woman  carrying  her  husband's  ashes;  preaching 
at  fairs;  that  of  1847  at  Allahabad;  services;  visitors;  the  swing- 
ing faqir;  the  Sanyari  dinner  party;  inquirers;  a  trick;  fair  of 
1860;  hidden  ones;  scientific  inquiries;  decline  of  fairs;  convert 
at  Jubbulpore ;  Hardwar  fair  in  1853 ;  the  blessed  foot-print  near 
Agra;  singular  objection  and  dispute;  another  foot-print  at  Alla- 
habad. Preaching  to  oriental  Christians  at  Agra.  Distant  influence 
of  Nestorian  missions.  Visitors  at  our  houses 97 — 146 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ITINERATIONS. 

The  cool  season.  Accommodations  for  travellers  in  India:  few 
hotels;  dak  bungalows;  the  Sara.  One  effect  of  caste.  Mode  of 
using  tents.  Preaching  in  rural  villages.  Various  incidents  of 
travel:  the  converted  gentleman;  the  Brihman  at  the  bathing- 
place;  the  worn  out  pilgrim;  the  Hindti  cupid;  the  flooded  tent; 


CONTENTS.  XI 

the  naked  faqfr;  sad  news;  the  Mohammedan  saint  on  a  tamarind 
stump;  Hindus  regard  Sunday;  a  Musalman  disputant;  the  city  of 
Moses;  a  new  goddess;  taste  as  to  the  fine  arts;  levity  of  the 
Hindus ;  worship  of  the  cow ;  a  burnt  village.  Journey  in  the  Him- 
malaya;  a  dishonest  man;  temples  and  worship;  covetousness ; 
desecration  of  a  god ;  Tatar  architecture ;  the  Rana  of  Balsan  and 
his  territory.  More  itinerating  necessary.  The  field  and  the 
work 147—177 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THK   PREPARATION    OP   BOOKS    FOR   THE    PRESS. 

Time  that  may  be  spent  in  writing.  The  Scriptures.  Necessity 
of  literary  labour.  Destitution  of  good  literature.  Erroneous  and 
corrupt  books.  Want  of  reliable  history.  Missionaries  must  aid  in 
supplying  the  want.  A  Hindu  theory  of  winds  and  storms.  Mo- 
hammedan conceit  and  vanity.  Mohammedan  objections  to  New 
Testament.  A  strange  map  of  the  world.  Character  of  their 
poetry  and  fiction.  Works  produced  by  Allahabad  mission.  The 
Lodiana  mission.  My  own  works.  Difficulties  in  translating.  The 
kind  of  men  needed  in  India.  Thoughts  for  the  Church.. 178 — 188 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RELATIONS     WITH    EUROPEANS    AND    EAST    INDIANS,    AND     THEIR 
INFLUENCE  ON  OUR  WORE. 

What  constitutes  a  gentleman.  An  Anglo-Indian  custom.  Social 
standing  of  Missionary  families.  Ignorance  of  some  parties.  Con- 
sequent unfairness.  Devout  persons;  their  kindness  to  missiona- 
ries. Missionary  influence  on  society.  Chaplains.  Church  of 
England  dignitaries.  State  of  religion  amongst  the  English.  Pres- 
byterian church  at  Agra;  its  singular  relations  and  their  conse- 
quences: its  new  house  of  worship.  English  aid  to  the  Christian 
press.  The  Tract  and  Book  Society.  Agra  Bible  Society.  The 
Papists  at  Agra.  Female  day-schools  at  Allahabad  and  Agra. 
Schools  for  the  East  Indians  at  Agra:  necessity  felt;  foundation 
and  failure  of  the  Protestant  Academy ;  history  of  the  founding  of 
our  Boys'  School — aid  received;  a  similar  history  of  the  Girls' 
School — aid  received — the  leadings  of  Providence.  The  course  of 
lectures.  European  soldiers.  Influence  of  low  East  Indians.  Evil 
influence  of  some  officers.  The  Musalmin  convert.  Other  evils. 
Good  predominates 189 — 219 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SUCCESS. 

Necessary  lapse  of  time.  Difficulties :  caste ;  philosophical  sys- 
tems. Amount  of  success  in  numbers.  Nature  of  it.  Some  cases : 
Poor  Blind  Sally;  Mr.  Wilson's  catechist;  Jatni.  General  impres- 
sion in  favour  of  Christianity.  Improved  position  of  converts.  In- 
fluence upon  caste.  The  town  of  Kara  and  an  inquirer.  The 
pleasing  inquirer  and  his  mysterious  disappearance.  The  old  Mo- 
hammedan gentleman.  The  lawyer.  The  orphan  asylums.  Works 
of  controversy  against  us.  The  effect  of  schools.  Appeal  for 
India 219—253 


CONCLUSION 254 


MISSIONARY  LIFE  IN  NORTH  INDIA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

/f 

IN  October,  1838,  the  reinforcement  to  our  North 
India  Mission,  of  which  my  family  constituted  a  part, 
sailed  from  Philadelphia.  At  this  distance  from  that 
time  it  is  instructive  to  turn  back  and  recall  our  feel- 
ings for  a  moment.  Any  one,  who  has  left  his  native 
land  for  a  prolonged  residence  abroad,  if  he  were  at 
all  accustomed  to  reflection  and  feeling,  must  have 
ielt  vividly  the  uncertainty  of  his  ever  again  mingling 
with  the  associates  who  had  made  the  scenes  of  his 
early  days  dear  to  him.  A  missionary  feels  that  it 
is  highly  probable  that  he  will  not  live  to  see  his 
friends  again.  The  wrench  given  to  his  affections  is 
most  exquisite.  Even  if  he  be  sure  of  a  future  visit 
to  his  country,  he  cannot  but  feel  that  he  is  to  be 
separated  from  relatives,  churches,  fellow-students, 
society — all  dear  to  uim ;  and  just  when  his  social 
affections  are  warmest,  and  when  he  most  feels  the 
need  of  the  aid  to  be  derived  from  their  proper  indul- 
gence. And  if  he  has  any  proper  sense  of  the  mag- 
nitude and  difficulty  of  the  work  to  which  he  is  going, 
his  soul  will  be  filled  with  trembling.  The  surviving 
members  of  our  party  will  never  forget  the  melting  of 
2 


14  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

heart  that  \ve  felt.  Never  did  we  feel  so  cut  adrift 
from  the  world;  nor  did  we  ever  so  really  feel  that 
Christ  was  all  to  us.  The  first  few  days  of  our  voy- 
age were  full  of  the  contests  of  natural  yearnings  with 
the  workings  of  those  higher  feelings,  motives  and 
principles  that  lay  at  the  foundation  of  our  going 
forth.  Never  did  Christ  seem  so  precious  to  us  as 
when  we  had  given  all  that  we  cared  for  to  him. 
When  we  do  most  for  him,  then  we  can  most  appro- 
priate him;  not  from  the  idea  that  we  deserve  more, 
but  because  we  then  come  to  feel  more  that  we  have 
nothing  but  him. 

Our  party  consisted  of  the  Rev.  James  L.  Scott  and 
Mrs.  Scott,  the  Rev.  John  E.  Freeman  and  Mrs. 
Freeman,  with  Mrs.  Warren  and  myself.  Of  this 
party,  Mrs.  Scott  and  Mrs.  Freeman,  after  several 
years  of  great  usefulness,  are  gone  to  a  higher  and  a 
better  sphere.  I  will  not  refrain  from  the  pleasure 
of  paying  a  deserved  tribute  to  their  worth.  The 
leading  characteristic  of  Mrs.  Scott  was  an  energetic, 
untiring  spirit  of  enterprise.  She  was  always  ready 
cheerfully  to  undertake  any  work  by  which  she  could 
benefit  the  people,  and  promote  the  object  of  our  mis- 
sion. Mrs.  Freeman  was  more  known  for  great  and 
quiet  gentleness — a  gentleness  that  did  not  make  her 
influence  less  than  that  of  the  other  lamented  woman. 
The  females  of  the  Allahabad  mission  church  were 
influenced  by  her  to  such  an  extent,  that  we  may  look 
for  the  fruit  of  her  labours  to  be  reproduced,  again 
and  again,  in  the  future  history  of  our  Church  in 
India.  Both  of  them  were  our  dear  friends;  and  both 
left  blanks  in  our  circle  that  will  not  be  filled  in  this 
world.  A  list  of  friends  may  be  lengthened — blanks 
are  rarely  filled. 

It  would  be  useless  to  give  an  account  of  our  voy- 
age after  such  a  lapse  of  time.  The  public  is  suf- 
ficiently acquainted  both  with  such  subjects,  and  with 
the  general  impressions  of  missionaries  on  reaching 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  15 

the  country  of  their  destination.  The  journey  up  the 
Ganges  has  also  been  described  by  others,  so  that  it 
is  not  necessary  to  refer  further  to  that.  We  will, 
therefore,  pass  over  all  these  matters,  and  proceed,  in 
the  next  chapter,  to  look  at  missionary  experience  in 
the  field  of  actual  operations. 

The  plan  of  this  work  is  simple.  It  is  to  give 
specimens  of  all  kinds  of  experience,  both  happy  and 
sad;  and  to  display  all  our  ordinary  modes  of  work- 
ing, the  reasons  for  them,  and  their  results.  *  The 
people  and  the  circumstances,  that  affect  our  work, 
must  be  taken  into  view.  The  mode  of  doing  this, 
which  has  been  chosen,  is  to  give  a  personal  narrative 
of  my  own  experience — not  chronologically,  but  as  to 
different  subjects.  My  object  is,  to  keep  the  indi- 
vidual out  of  sight,  as  far  as  the  nature  of  the  plan 
will  permit;  and  on  the  thin  thread  of  personal  narra- 
tive to  string  anecdotes,  sketches,  and  specimens, 
until  the  reader  shall  be  able  to  gather  an  intelligible 
notion  of  our  life  and  labours  in  India.  An  attempt 
is  made  to  keep  the  reader  from  being  wearied  by  the 
mere  clanking  of  machinery,  by  interrupting  and 
illustrating  the  narrative  with  all  sorts  of  fac-ts  related 
to  it.  An  additional  chapter  contains  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  government  of  that  country,  and  of  different 
classes  of  persons,  who  are  mentioned  in  the  course 
of  the  work,  so  far  as  is  necessary  for  the  understand- 
ing of  the  narrative. 

The  object  of  the  book  is,  to  help  the  friends  of 
missions  to  a  full  knowledge  of  the  work,  so  that 
they  may  form  just  expectations,  and  be  led  to  go 
forward  with  more  interest  in  the  matter,  more 
earnestness  of  desire  and  purpose,  and  more  hope, 
patience,  and  prayer. 


16  MISSIONARY  LIFB 

CHAPTER  II. 

HOUSE-KEEPING    AND    LEARNING    THE   LANGUAGES. 

AFTER  reaching  Allahabad  we  found  that  the  Mis- 
sion families  were  not  in  a  position  to  keep  us  in 
their  houses  with  any  convenience  to  themselves  or 
to  us.  A  large  bungalow  had  been  taken  for  us  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Freeman  jointly.  As  Mrs.  Freeman 
was  ill,  they  could  not  join  us  in  house-keeping 
immediately;  and  we  therefore  began  by  ourselves  at 
once.  While  we  had  been  tarrying  at  Benares,  our 
boats  had  come  on,  and  were  unloaded  the  same  day 
that  we  arrived.  We  spent  the  next  day  after  our 
arrival,  which  was  the  Sabbath,  at  the  house  of  one 
of  our  friends,  and  on  Monday  began  our  house-keep- 
ing. 

As  bungalows  in  Upper  India  differ  considerably 
from  descriptions  of  them  in  the  Madras  Presidency 
and  Ceylon,  which  I  have  seen  in  books  published  in 
America,  a  description  of  the  one  in  which  we  first 
lived,  and  of  that  which  was  afterwards  bought  for 
us,  may  be  interesting.  The  one  that  was  hired  for 
our  temporary  use  was  much  larger  than  missionaries 
need,  or  ever  use  in  ordinary  circumstances.  It  was 
situated  nearly  in  the  centre  of  a  square  lot  of  about 
six  acres.  A  lane  passing  between  two  fields  led  to 
it  from  a  retired  road,  so  that  the  place  was  quiet 
and  free  from  dust.  In  front  of  the  house  was  a 
small  parterre  of  flowering  shrubs.  The  western  part 
of  the  ground  was  a  garden  nearly  filled  with  fruit 
trees.  Along  the  north  wall  of  the  yard  was  a  range 
of  buildings — clay  walls  and  tiled  roofs — which  con- 
tained the  kitchen,  stable,  carriage- house,  and  about 
a  dozen  rooms  intended  as  tenements  for  servants. 
The  house  faced  the  south.  The  entrance  was  a 
deep  verandah,  running  the  whole  length  of  the 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  17 

house,  except  that  a  small  room  was  inclosed  in  each 
end  of  it,  used  as  lumber  rooms,  or  places  in  which 
the  servants  cleaned  the  lamps  and  performed  similar 
work  for  the  house.  The  largest  room  of  the  house 
was  about  thirty-five  feet  long,  and  twenty-two  wide, 
stretching  along  the  front.  At  the  ends  of  this  room 
were  two  smaller  ones,  serving  as  servants'  hall,  or 
pantry,  or  for  any  temporary  use;  though  in  truth 
their  main  office  was  to  serve  as  passages  to  other 
rooms,  and  to  keep  the  heated  outer  walls  as  far  as  pos- 
sible from  the  principal  apartments.  Behind  this  range 
of  rooms  was  another  of  three,  of  which  the  middle 
one  was  largest.  This  room  had  no  door  opening  into 
the  verandah  on  any  side,  but  was  entirely  sur- 
rounded by  other  rooms.  The  light  in  it  was  conse- 
quently scanty,  and  the  room  gloomy,  so  that  it 
would  be  very  rarely  used,  except  in  the  very  hottest 
weather,  when  its  distance  from  the  external  walls 
would  make  it  more  cool  than  any  other  place  in  the 
house.  Back  of  these  three  rooms  were  two  large 
bed-rooms.  The  ends  and  back  part  of  the  house 
were  protected  by  verandahs ;  but  the  one  in  the  rear 
was  enclosed  and  cut  up  into  small  rooms,  to  serve  as 
bathing  rooms,  &c.  The  house  was  of  but  one  story, 
and  covered  an  enormous  quantity  of  ground  for 
the  amount  of  accommodation  it  afforded,  compared 
with  houses  in  America.  But  it  was  intended  to 
accommodate  but  one  ordinary  family,  and  to  keep 
out  the  heat  as  much  as  possible.  The  roof  was 
pointed  in  the  centre,  very  steep,  and  ran  down  low, 
projecting  out  from  the  verandahs,  so  that  the  lower 
edge  of  it  was  not  more  than  nine  feet  from  the 
ground.  It  was  of  grass,  and  about  nine  inches 
thick.  The  house  presented  scarcely  anything  but 
roof  to  the  view  at  a  little  distance:  it  suggested  the 
idea  of  a  short  stout  person  hidden  by  an  enormous 
and  ungainly  sun-bonnet. 

The  house  that  was  bought  for  us    shortly  after, 
2* 


18  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

•was  much  smaller,  but  in  other  respects  very  similar 
to  the  other.  The  roof  was  of  the  same  form  and 
material;  the  verandah  completely  surrounded  the 
house,  and  bathing-rooms  were  formed  in  it  at  three 
corners.  The  rooms  that  it  contained  were — one  of 
twenty-two  feet  by  sixteen  ;  at  the  end  of  this  a  pan- 
try ;  and,  back  of  these,  two  rooms  of  fifteen  by  six- 
teen feet  each.  This  was  too  small  to  keep  out  the 
heat;  and  it  not  only  afforded  no  accommodation  for 
visitors,  but  was  not  sufficient  for  our  family.  After 
living  in  it  some  years,  however,  we  were  kindly 
allowed  to  add  a  sitting-room  and  study  to  this,  which, 
with  some  minor  alterations,  made  it  a  sufficiently 
good  house. 

The  floors  of  bungalows  are  made  of  lime.  The 
foundation  of  the  house  is  first  filled  up  with  clay, 
which  is  well  rammed  down ;  then  a  course  of  broken 
bricks  or  kanJcar  [limestone  nodules]  is  laid  over  the 
clay  and  beaten  down ;  then  coarse  lime  mixed  with 
small  kankar  is  put  on  and  very  well  beaten ;  then  a 
plaster  of  finer  lime  is  laid  over  all,  and  beaten 
lightly  by  a  crowd  of  boys  and  girls  for  a  long  time, 
till,  from  being  like  a  puddle  of  water,  it  becomes  al- 
most dry;  and  then  it  is  finished  off  with  a  thin  coat- 
ing of  pure  white  lime,  not  laid  on  like  whitewash, 
but  rubbed  into  the  surface  of  the  plaster,  and 
carefully  smoothed.  Sugar,  and  various  other  arti- 
cles, are  incorporated  with  the  two  upper  strata  of 
this  formation,  to  make  the  floor  hard. 

The  ceiling  of  the  rooms  is  cloth,  tied  to  hooks 
over  a  cornice  round  the  sides  of  the  room,  and  sup- 
ported by  bamboos  that  run  across  the  room.  The 
cloth  is  white-washed ;  so  that,  when  well  put  up,  it 
closely  resembles  the  plain  lath  and  plaster  ceilings 
in  American  houses.  This  cloth  keeps  scorpions, 
centipedes,  and  many  other  inconvenient  things,  from 
falling  into  the  rooms,  and  upon  whatever  they  con- 
tain. 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  19 

The  walls  of  these  houses  are  made  either  of  hurnt 
bricks,  or  of  those  which  are  only  sun-dried,  or  of  clay 
in  successive  courses.  All  of  them  are  plastered  and 
whitened  or  coloured.  The  plaster  is  usually  a  pre- 
paration of  lime,  hut  is  sometimes  only  clay  and 
chopped  straw.  The  walls,  though  clay,  or  laid  up 
with  clay  mortar,  stand  well  as  long  as  protected  from 
the  rain ;  but  if  the  white  ants  go  up  through  the 
walls,  and  eat  the  thatch  over  them,  as  they  often  do, 
the  first  rain  sends  down  a  stream  of  water,  which 
gutters  the  wall,  and  brings  with  it  a  load  of  clay  into 
the  rooms.  The  first  rain  that  we  saw  in  India  caused 
us  this  awkward  accident,  in  the  hired  house  spoken 
of  above.  We  sent  for  the  agent  of  the  house-owner, 
and  showed  him  our  trouble;  but  as  we  had  nothing 
in  that  room  to  be  spoiled,  he  laughed  at  us  for  con- 
sidering the  matter  so  sad  and  serious  as  we  evidently 
did.  A  little  straw  thrust  into  the  roof,  and  a  little 
clay  plaster  applied  to  the  wall,  made  all  right  for 
that  season. 

We  lived  about  six  weeks  in  the  hired  house,  till 
our  own  was  purchased.  During  this  time  we  were 
struggling  to  learn  how  to  speak  to  the  people,  and 
to  understand  the  ways  of  house-keeping  in  that 
strange  country.  We  could  not  have  the  kitchen  in 
the  house;  the  heat  absolutely  forbade  that.  Even 
the  poorest  natives  do  not  kindle  their  fires  for  cook- 
ing inside  their  houses  in  the  hot  weather,  but  out  of 
doors.  We  were,  therefore  obliged  to  keep  servants. 
Many  people  in  America  may  be  astonished  that  we, 
who  could  have  got  on  very  well  with  one  servant  in 
America,  should  in  India  keep  several. 

A  long  detail  of  circumstances,  to  justify  ourselves, 
will  not  be  entered  upon  here;  it  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
sufficient  to  state  simply  that  we  were  obliged  to  do 
so.  We,  having  a  fixed  allowance,  had  quite  as  many 
inducements  to  lay  up  money  as  any  clergyman's 
family  in  America;  and  missionaries,  us  a  class,  are 


20  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

no  more  likely  to  waste  an  income  on  servants  for 
show  than  any  other  people.  We  should  have  been 
glad  to  live  with  fewer  servants,  and  to  have  received 
a  smaller  fixed  allowance  from  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  had  it  been  practicable.  But  the  exhaust- 
ing climate,  the  necessary  distance  of  the  kitchen,  the 
day-by-day  mode  of  living  there,  the  inveterate  inef- 
ficiency of  the  servants,  and  the  institution  of  caste, 
all  combined  to  force  us  to  have  several  servants,  and 
still  to  be  as  badly  served  as  a  family  in  America  is 
with  one  poor  servant  in  their  house.  As  to  the  last 
particular  mentioned — caste — it  operated  in  this  way : 
the  cook  would  not  dust  the  furniture  or  sweep  the 
house — it  was  against  his  caste.  By  this  is  not  meant 
that  there  was  any  religious  reason  why  he  should  not 
do  these  things — he  could  not  be  counted  unclean  for 
doing  them;  but  the  people  of  his  caste  had  agreed 
that  these  things  were  low,  and  that  they  would  not 
do  them; — they  are  usually  done  by  men  of  lower 
caste,  and  therefore  they  would  persecute  one  of  their 
own  men  if  he  did  them.  Again,  the  man  that  dusted 
the  furniture  would  not  sweep — it  was  beneath  him ; 
and  the  sweeper  would  not  dust  the  furniture — he  had 
never  learned,  and  felt  no  need  to  learn,  because  he 
could  get  a  living  as  a  scavenger.  Neither  of  them 
would  bring  water,  for  it  was  not  their  trade;  and  if 
we  did  not  employ  a  regular  water-carrier,  every  man 
about  the  place  cried  out,  How  are  we  to  get  water? 
Some  years  after  our  first  settlement  at  Allahabad 
we  had  a  boy  from  the  orphan  asylum  to  provide  for. 
He  was  not  a  good  boy,  and  could  not  be  trusted  in 
the  printing-house,  where  there  were  opportunities  to 
pilfer;  but  he  was  a  nominal  Christian,  and  it  was  our 
duty  to  give  him  employment  and  keep  him  under  the 
means  of  grace  if  we  could.  We  therefore  made  him 
water-carrier.  We  put  a  bucket  and  windlass  to  the 
well,  and  procured  a  yoke  and  pair  of  buckets  for 
him.  This  made  it  easier  for  him  to  draw  and  carry 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  21 

water  than  the  Asiatic  method,  where  it  is  usually 
drawn  in  a  little,  leaky,  leathern  bucket,  by  a  small 
line  drawn  hand  over  hand,  and  carried  in  a  goat-skin 
over  the  back.  It  also  made  it  practicable  for  each 
person  to  draw  for  himself.  But  the  complaints  were 
loud  and  long.  Nearly  all  our  people,  in  the  house  and 
printing-house,  refused  to  drink  the  water  brought 
by  a  Christian — it  was  unholy;  and  to  touch  the 
bucket  in  the  well,  for  the  same  reason.  They  re- 
presented to  me,  most  pathetically,  that  I  was  putting 
them  all  to  great  inconvenience  and  expense.  The 
native  Christians  did  not  join  in  these  objections;  but 
they  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  such  a  thing  before, 
and  could  not  believe  that  it  would  work :  they  doubted 
the  windlass,  the  buckets  and  the  yoke ;  but  above  all 
they  could  not  see  how  a  Christian  could  be  made  a 
water-carrier;  it  was  perfectly  unprecedented.  The 
support,  therefore,  that  we  obtained  from  them  was 
small  indeed;  and  even  the  lad  employed  looked  on 
himself  as  put  to  a  very  strange  use.  He  .could  not 
say  that  the  employment  was  not  respectable;  for  it 
has  always  been  considered  highly  so.  He  could  not 
plead  that  it  was  hard  or  unprofitable ;  but  he  knew 
that  it  was  unusual,  and  that  was  enough  to  keep  him 
from  feeling  easy  in  it.  The  experiment  was  con- 
tinued, however,  and  worked  pretty  well,  till  the  boy 
abandoned  my  place  to  try  his  fortune  in  Calcutta. 
One  more  thing  may  be  said :  as  far  as  an  opportu- 
nity to  learn  their  feelings  has  been  afforded  to  me, 
I  am  led  to  believe  that  our  wives  would  prefer  doing 
their  own  house-work  in  America  to  living  as  they  do 
in  India,  were  there  not  far  higher  and  holier  motives 
than  personal  ease  to  keep  them  there. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression.  We  had  every 
thing  to  learn — language,  facilities,  customs,  how  to 
avoid  being  cheated,  and  how  to  escape  doing  wrong 
ourselves.  Mrs.  Warren,  being  still  weak  from  her 
recent  illness,  required  much  of  my  assistance ;  and 


22  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

the  necessity  of  giving  it  was  rather  an  advantage  to 
me  at  that  time:  a  certain  part  of  the  language  was 
learned  from  necessity.  Much  of  the  time  was  spent 
in  turning  over  an  English  and  Hindustani  dictionary, 
to  find  out  the  names  of  things,  and  how  to  frame 
certain  phrases.  The  dictionary  was  a  most  miserable 
affair,  often  provokingly  giving  definitions  out  of 
which  nothing  could  be  made,  and  often  misleading 
me  by  not  properly  distinguishing  what  are  usually 
called  synonyms;  but  still  we  were  led  sometimes,  as 
well  as  misled,  by  it.  Our  perplexities,  with  a  cook 
who  did  not  know  twenty  words  of  English,  and  who 
talked  to  us  just  as  if  we  knew  Hindustani,  were  often 
most  ludicrous.  We  shall  never  forget  the  way  in  which 
we  learned  the  word  bhul  (mistake) ;  and  will  tell  it  as 
a  specimen  of  that  which  was  occurring  every  hour. 
We  had  bought  a  piece  of  mutton  for  dinner,  and 
handed  it  over  to  the  cook.  After  a  time  he  came 
running,  with  trouble  in  his  countenance,  and  said  he 
had  made  a  bhul;  adding  a  great  deal  more  which  I 
did  not  at  all  understand.  The  word  bhul  completely 
puzzled  me;  and,  as  it  appeared  that  this  must  be  the 
key  to  his  talk,  I  went  into  a  diligent  search  of  it  in 
the  Hindustani  dictionary,  but  lacked  knowledge  to 
find  the  word  from  his  pronunciation.  At  last,  after 
long  labour,  I  began  to  listen  for  other  words,  to  serve 
as  starting  points;  and  soon  made  out  the  words  kuttd 
(dog),  gosht  (meat),  and  le  gayd  (carried  away),  which 
I  knew  before.  Thus  it  became  apparent  that  he  had 
made  the  bhul  (blunder)  of  leaving  the  meat  in  the 
kitchen  unguarded,  and  a  dog  had  carried  away  our 
dinner. 

The  struggles  which  we  constantly  made  to  get 
work  done  in  the  way  in  which  we  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  have  it  done  at  home,  were  sometimes  amus- 
ing, and  sometimes  distressing;  and  our  success  was 
very  small.  The  little  and  numberless  ways  in  which 
the  servants  sought  to  cheat  us,  the  dirty  habits  and 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  23 

practices  in  which  we  detected  them,  and  their  child- 
ish helplessness  in  many  things,  all  made  us  think,  for 
a  time,  that  we  should  never  be  able  to  endure  them. 
But  experience  taught,  and  use  reconciled,  us  at  last. 
After  our  own  house  was  purchased  we  went  into 
it  as  soon  as  possible.  The  number  and  size  of  the 
rooms  I  have  already  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  gene- 
ral character  of  the  house.  This  had  one  peculiarity. 
Glass  doors  are  generally  considered  a  necessity.  To 
these  Venetians  are  added;  or  mats  or  quilted  curtains 
are  hung  up  against  the  doors;  and  occasionally  the 
verandah  is  supplied  with  screens  made  from  the  stems 
of  a  very  thick  grass,  or  split  bamboos.  The  pecu- 
liarity of  our  house  was,  that  it  had  the  Venetians,  and 
no  glass  doors:  we  could  not  have  light  without  wind, 
and  its  accompaniment  of  dust  and  heat.  We  carried 
our  little  furniture  into  this  house;  and  perhaps  it  was 
better  that  the  house  was  small.  We  had  a  tottering 
teak-wood  dining  table;  twelve  Indian  chairs  of  thn, 
a  wood  resembling  cherry;  a  rocking  chair,  and  two 
painted  chairs  from  Boston;  a  dressing-table  a.nd  a 
study  table,  which  were  the  halves  of  an  old  round 
table  that  I  bought  (too  dear)  for  three  dollars;  a 
cheap  set  of  camp-drawers,  wash-stand  and  boxes. 
When  furnishing  ourselves  with  a  bed  in  Calcutta  we 
had  also  bought  a  spare  bed.  We  were  told  not  to  do 
so;  but  our  American  notions  of  propriety  were  sadly 
shocked  at  the  idea  of  having  no  bed  to  offer  a  friend, 
and  we  would  buy  it;  but  when  we  went  into  our 
house  we  found  that  we  had  no  place  in  which  to  put 
the  spare  bed,  and  were  obliged  to  sell  it.  We  im- 
proved this  furniture,  and  added  to  the  number  of  ar- 
ticles, in  the  course  of  years,  till  we  made  our  house 
tolerably  pleasant.  We  had  few  places  to  visit,  and 
our  house  was  an  important  matter  to  us:  we  thought 
it  our  duty  to  each  other  to  do  all  we  could  to  make  it 
a  pleasant  place  to  live  in ;  and  that  our  children 
ought  not  to  be  brought  up  in  unnecessary  rus- 


24  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ticity.  This  remark,  however,  is  not  intended  as  an 
apology  for  anything  like  luxury:  at  no  time  while 
we  were  in  India  would  all  our  furniture,  together 
•with  horse  and  buggy,  have  been  estimated  at  so  much 
as  would  have  furnished  some  single  chambers  in  this 
country. 

The  floors  were  covered  with  coarse  coloured  cotton 
cloth,  printed  in  imitation  of  a  carpet.  This  cloth, 
when  first  put  down,  looks  rather  gay,  and  in  a  hot  cli- 
mate is  a  good  substitute  for  a  carpet.  But  it  is  soon 
spoiled.  The  day  that  we  removed  from  the  hired 
house  into  our  own,  it  rained  violently  for  a  short 
time,  and  the  wind  drove  the  water  across  the  veran- 
dah, and  through  the  Venetians,  till  it  stood  in  pud- 
dles on  Mrs.  Warren's  gayest  new  floor-cloth,  which 
cost  $3.50  for  the  whole  room.  A  rustic  candidate 
for  baptism,  whom  we  had  made  watchman  to  give 
him  the  means  of  living,  was  assisting  us  in  moving 
our  goods,  and  Mrs.  Warren  found  him  churning  the 
colours  out  of  the  carpet  in  one  of  these  puddles  with 
his  naked  feet.  The  poor  fellow  stood  trampling 
away,  and  saying,  in  a  tone  of  sorrow,  "  0  see  the 
water  !  we  never  can  live  here  without  glass  doors ! 

The  Mission  thought  so  too;  and  accordingly  we 
began  to  make  glass  doors  for  the  house.  For  this 
purpose  we  hired  a  carpenter,  who  worked  in  our 
back  verandah.  His  mode  of  working,  and  some 
anecdotes  respecting  his  caste,  will  be  interesting  to 
my  readers,  as  specimens  of  the  state  of  things  in 
that  country.  His  tools  were  very  scanty,  and  of 
the  poorest  quality.  Two  small  saws,  two  or  three 
chisels,  a  few  bits,  and  a  rod  and  string  to  turn 
them,  a  small  plane,  and  a  kind  of  adze,  which  had  to 
do  nearly  all  the  work,  with  a  few  minor  articles,  are 
the  usual  kit  of  a  Hindustani  carpenter  and  cabinet-, 
maker.  There  are  differences  in  workmen,  but  the 
one  I  am  describing  was  by  no  means  the  worst. 
With  his  tools  he  spent  more  time  in  sawing  out 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  25 

one  bit  of  timber  than  twenty  similar  ones  would 
have  taken  up  in  America.  His  plane  was  so  small 
and  poor  that  nothing  was  made  either  quite  smooth 
or  straight.  As  much  of  his  work  as  could  possibly 
be  done  so,  was  done  with  the  adze :  he  held  a  rough 
stick  slanting  before  himself  by  resting  it  in  a  notch 
made  in  a  block  that  lay  on  the  ground ;  and  he  then 
hewed  slowly,  taking  off  mere  bits  of  shavings,  till 
he  had  brought  it  to  the  shape  required.  All  his 
work  was  done  sitting  on  the  ground,  except  when  it 
had  to  do  with  the  door-frames  already  fixed  in  the 
wall.  Pieces  of  wood,  on  which  he  was  at  work  with 
both  hands,  were  steadied  by  his  toes.  It  was  a 
great  trial  of  patience  to  see  him  at  work :  he  did 
nothing  well;  and  yet  he  did  exceedingly  well  when 
we  consider  his  tools  and  education.  He  could  not 
do  in  a  month  more  than  a  carpenter  with  us  does 
in  three  days:  but  then  his  pay  for  the  month  was 
not  more  than  a  good  American  carpenter  gets  for 
three  days.  He  never  made  two  things  alike :  our 
doors  were  of  such  peculiar  sizes,  though  all  nomi- 
nally the  same,  that  no  one  would  fit  another's  frame; 
and  no  corner  was  a  right  angle,  except  by  the  merest 
accident.  The  rows  of  glass  were  far  from  running 
straight  across  the  door,  but  were  set  up  and  down  in 
anything  but  a  fanciful  manner.  But  after  all,  the 
doors  kept  out  nearly  all  the  wind  they  were  intended 
to  keep  out. 

This  man  (and  he  is  but  a  specimen  of  his  class) 
had  a  great  propensity  to  sleeping,  and  a  small 
amount  of  faithfulness.  If  he  fancied  that  I  was 
busy,  he  would  lie  down  beside  his  work  and  sleep, 
when  he  ought  to  have  been  at  work,  and  had 
already  been  absent  more  than  the  usual  time.  I  did 
almost  every  imaginable  thing  to  break  him  of  the 
habit: — threatened  him  with  his  discharge  and  with 
fines ;  threw  blocks  of  wood  at  him,  taking  care  not  to 
hit  him,  but  wishing  that  he  might  think  he  had  had 
3 


26  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

great  escapes;  and  reasoned  with  him,  so  far  as  a 
very  scanty  knowledge  of  his  language  permitted. 
At  last,  in  an  evil  hour,  I  thought  I  had  discovered 
an  unexceptionable  mode  of  awakening  him,  and 
making  him  cautious  for  the  future,  at  the  same  time 
doing  him  no  injury.  He  worked  with  only  two 
pieces  of  cloth  on  him — a  dirty  white  piece  wrapped 
round  his  loins  and  tucked  between  his  legs,  and  a 
red  piece  wrapped  round  his  head  for  a  turban. 
The  weather  was  warm,  and  he  was  always  bathing: 
so  I  thought  he  could  not  be  injured  by  water. 
Accordingly  the  next  time  he  was  caught  napping,  I 
went  into  the  bathing-room,  a  door  of  which  opened 
into  the  verandah  where  he  was  lying,  and  threw  a 
wash-bowl  full  of  water  over  him.  He  got  up  and 
went  about  his  work,  after  bathing  at  the  well,  and 
I  heard  nothing  of  it  for  three  or  four  days.  Then 
he  came  to  me,  saying,  that  he  was  in  great  trouble, 
as  his  people  had  suspended  him  from  caste  privi- 
leges, and  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  with  him. 
The  Hindustanis  express  these  ideas  by  the  phrase, 
"To  stop  his  pipe  and  water."  A  friend  of  his,  a 
great  man  of  the  caste,  came  to  me  to  confirm  the 
story.  They  said  that  the  caste,  having  heard  of 
the  circumstance,  presumed  that  the  water  had  been 
used,  or  at  least  touched  by  me,  and  was  therefore 
unholy  ;  and  that  some  of  it  had  gone  into  his  mouth  ; 
though  this  he  denied.  They  explained  that,  if  the 
unholy  water  only  fell  on  his  body,  he  would  only 
have  to  bathe  in  the  river  to  be  holy  again;  but  if  it 
went  into  his  mouth,  he  would  have  to  fee  the  Brah- 
mans  and  feast  the  caste  before  he  could  be  restored 
to  communion ;  and  that  this  would  cost  about  a  hun- 
dred dollars,  which  I  should  have  to  pay.  I  learned 
that  it  really  was  both  law  and  usage,  that  if  one  by 
any  violence,  or  even  by  accident,  injured  any  per- 
son's standing  in  his  caste  by  producing  ceremonial 
pollution,  he  should  pay  all  the  expenses  of  his 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  27 

restoration.  They  at  first  showed  some  signs  of  a  pur- 
pose to  insist  that  the  water  went  into  the  man's  mouth, 
in  order  to  make  me  pay  for  a  feast  for  them ;  and 
the  man  himself  would  have  been  willing  that  this 
should  be  the  end  of  the  business,  had  he  not  said 
before  witnesses,  in  the  first  place,  that  his  mouth 
had  escaped  the  deluge,  and  thus  furnished  me  with 
a  ground  of  defence  in  a  civil  suit  for  damages.  I 
stood  out,  of  course,  that  I  would  not  pay  the  money. 
At  last  the  caste  agreed  to  refer  it  to  my  honour;  if  I 
would  say  that  I  did  not  think  the  water  went  into 
his  mouth,  they  would  restore  the  man.  As  I  fully 
believed  the  mouth  had  escaped,  I  said  so;  and  that 
was  the  end  of  the  business.  This  taught  me  to  deal 
carefully  with  caste  for  all  time  to  come. 

Some  years  after  this,  when  I  had  another  carpen- 
ter, of  another  sub-division  of  the  same  caste,  at  work 
for  the  printing-house,  he  assisted  me  in  making  a 
bargain  with  some  Brahmans,  who  lived  a  few  miles 
from  the  city  of  Allahabad,  for  some  thatching  grass 
for  the  bungalow.  The  price  was  settled  at  so  much 
a  thousand  bundles,  and  eight  or  ten  bundles  were 
given  by  the  Brahmans.  as  specimens  both  of  the 
thickness  of  bundle  and  length  of  grass  which  they 
were  to  give.  These  specimen  bundles  were  carefully 
locked  up  in  a  store-room  till  they  brought  the  grass. 
When  they  brought  it,  we  found  that  not  more  than, 
half  of  it  was  at  all  up  to  the  specimens.  These  were 
produced,  and  I  said  that  I  could  not  pay  the  full 
price.  I  called  some  Hindus,  who  were  engaged  in 
the  work  of  thatching  the  house,  and  were  well  ac- 
quainted with  such  matters,  and  asked  them  what  was 
to  be  done.  The  Brahmans  agreed  to  leave  the  mat- 
ter to  them.  They  decided  that  I  ought  to  pay  about 
nine  dollars  less  than  the  whole  lot  would  amount  to 
at  the  full  price.  This  sum  I  deducted  from  the 
price,  and  paid  the  remainder.  I  was  sure  that  I  was 
doing  them  uo  wrong,  but  rather  was  paying  them  too 


28  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

much.  They  murmured,  and  said  they  would  have 
the  remainder — the  full  price  agreed  on  at  first.  I 
asked  them  why  they  brought  me  such  grass — why 
they  gave  such  specimens  if  they  did  not  intend  to 
bring  grass  to  answer  to  them.  They  said  bluntly, 
that  they  had  brought  the  specimens  to  induce  me  to 
make  the  bargain;  and  then  had  given  as  good  grass 
as  they  could ;  that  I  must  be  foolish  to  expect  to  get 
anything  as  good  as  the  specimens  given ;  and  that 
they  had  unloaded  the  grass  in  my  yard,  and  must 
have  the  money.  I  then  told  them  they  might  go  to 
the  civil  court  with  the  case,  and  I  would  pay  what- 
ever was  decreed.  They  said  no  more  to  me.  In  a 
short  time  the  carpenter  came  to  me,  and  said  that 
the  Brahmans  were  demanding  the  nine  dollars  from 
him,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  introduced  them  to 
me,  and  assisted  in  making  the  bargain.  I  sent  a 
servant  to  order  them  out;  but  all  the  Hindus  about 
me  joined  in  imploring  that  I  would  do  no  such  thing 
— something  dreadful  would  happen  after  it.  The 
Brahmans,  they  said,  had  agreed  that  if  the  carpenter 
did  not  pay  the  money,  one  of  them  should  rip  him- 
self up  with  a  knife,  and  die  on  the  carpenter's  ac- 
count. There  were  three  of  the  Brahmans,  and  they 
had  been  overheard  laying  their  plan  behind  a  wall: 
the  youngest  said  that  it  belonged  to  him  to  die ;  but 
the  oldest  said  that  he  had  lived  a  greater  number  of 
years,  and  had  eaten  a  great  deal,  and  therefore  he 
ought  to  be  the  one.  And  so  it  was  finally  settled: 
they  were  to  make  a  formal  demand,  and  use  entrea- 
ties, threats,  and  all  other  means  short  of  a  lawsuit; 
and  if  the  carpenter  should  hold  out,  the  old  man  was 
to  kill  himself  on  the  spot,  and  the  carpenter  would 
have  to  bear  the  guilt.  No  guilt  so  terrifies  a  Hindti 
as  causing  the  death  of  a  Brahman;  and  so  confused 
are  the  ideas  of  the  uneducated  Hindis  as  to  different 
kinds  of  causes,  that  they  esteem  the  killing  of  them- 
selves out  of  spite  to  another  as  the  most  exquisite 


IN    NORTH    INDIA.  29 

kind  of  revenge;  because  they  fancy  that  all  the 
guilt  of  their  death  is,  in  this  case,  transferred  to  the 
person  on  whom  they  may  thus  choose  to  lay  it.  The 
carpenter  was  thoroughly  frightened.  He  begged  me 
to  give  the  money.  I  refused ;  and  explained  to  him 
and  the  Brahmans,  that  if  they  chose  to  kill  them- 
selves in  an  attempt  to  extort  money  unjustly,  they 
alone  would  suffer  for  it.  He  then  prayed  that  I 
would  lend  him  the  amount.  I  refused  again,  be- 
cause I  thought  it  right  to  combat  such  mingled 
knavery  and  superstition.  But  all  this  did  not,  as  I 
hoped  it  would,  prevent  the  Brahmans  from  carrying 
out  their  purpose :  they  made  a  last  solemn  appeal  to 
the  carpenter,  with  adjurations  and  curses,  telling  him 
that  they  chose  to  practise  upon  him,  because  he  be- 
lieved in  their  power  and  doctrines,  and  I  did  not. 
He  broke  down,  borrowed  the  money,  and  paid  them 
the  last  farthing.  He  lost  it:  for  I  never  would 
pay  it. 

I  will  only  add  some  anecdotes,  that  will  do  some- 
thing to  illustrate  the  matter  of  housekeeping  in 
India,  and  also  the  character  of  some  classes  of  the 
people. 

Shortly  after  we  were  settled  at  Allahabad,  we  had 
a  cook,  a  Musalman,  and  a  low  caste  Hindu  bearer, 
as  our  house-servants.  From  time  to  time  we  missed 
various  articles  of  clothing,  but  supposed  they  might 
have  been  mislaid  during  Mrs.  Warren's  illness,  and 
postponed  the  search  for  them  till  she  should  be 
stronger.  At  length,  when  I  had  five  hundred  ru- 
pees, as  treasurer  of  the  Mission,  in  the  house,  and 
was  quite  aware  how  much  had  been  paid  out  of  it,  I 
found  the  bag  evidently  too  light;  and  on  counting 
the  money,  found  that  one  hundred  and  thirty  rupees 
were  wanting.  The  cook  had  no  business  in  that 
part  of  the  house,  and  had  never  been  seen  there. 
The  bearer  was  the  only  person  we  could  suspect. 
Being  entirely  puzzled  as  to  how  to  proceed,  I  called 
3* 


30  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

in  the  Thdnadar.  This  is  the  head  policeman  of  a 
small  district.  The  man,  in  whose  district  I  lived, 
appeared  to  be  very  shrewd.  I  thought,  when  he 
winked  at  me,  and  told  me  he  would  find  some  clue  to 
the  truth  by  his  examination  of  the  bearer,  that  his 
shrewdness,  and  tact,  and  experience  would  certainly 
be  sufficient  to  find  the  money.  On  further  examina- 
tion of  our  goods  it  was  found  that  half  of  my  shirts  and 
many  of  our  best  articles  of  clothing  were  gone.  This 
was  a  sad  loss,  and  we  never  recovered  anything. 
The  Thanadar  took  away  the  bearer,  and  detained  him 
three  days,  but  was  obliged  to  discharge  him,  as  he 
could  discover  nothing  on  which  to  found  a  charge 
before  the  magistrate.  I  afterwards  learned,  to  my 
great  disgust  and  sorrow,  that  the  Thanadar,  during 
this  time,  had  miserably  vexed  and  tortured  the  poor 
man,  in  every  mode  that  would  not  leave  palpable 
marks,  in  order  to  compel  him  to  confess.  The 
bearer  was  turned  out  of  our  service,  as  we  still  be- 
lieved him  guilty,  though  we  could  not  convict  him. 
In  a  week  or  two  after  this  the  cook  asked  for  his  dis- 
charge. I  have  forgotten  the  pretext,  but  that  does 
not  signify — he  left  us.  Immediately  after  this  he 
married  a  wife,  though  he  already  had  one;  and  laid 
out  at  least  a  hundred  rupees  on  an  enlargement  of 
his  house,  beside  being  known  to  live  rather  luxuri- 
ously, though  before  he  entered  our  service  he  was  in 
debt.  Thus  it  became  manifest  to  every  one  that  he 
was  the  thief;  but  still  we  could  get  no  legal  evidence 
against  him. 

On  this  occasion  my  Munshi  greatly  regretted  the 
prevalence  of  English  law  and  customs.  He  said  that 
under  any  native  government  the  circumstances,  which 
were  open  to  all,  would  be  considered  sufficient  for  a 
conviction;  and  that  it  was  perfectly  ridiculous  to 
screen  a  manifest  rogue  because  no  one  saw  him  take 
the  money.  He  asked,  with  much  pertinence,  Ought 
the  law  to  expect  that  a  thief  will  take  witnesses  with 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  31 

him  when  he  goes  to  steal?  He  said,  (and  the 
natives  often  talk  in  this  way,)  that  English  pro- 
cedure and  customs  as  to  evidence,  are  totally 
unsuited  to  Hindustan,  and  serve  to  screen  offenders 
oftener  than  to  punish  them ;  and  are  precisely  fitted 
to  make  a  nefarious  conspiracy  against  an  innocent 
man  completely  successful.  As  an  example  of  this 
evil,  I  may  cite  a  case  which  occurred  under  my  own 
observation. 

A  man  was  accused  of  having  committed  a  bur- 
glary, aided  by  two  friends,  by  breaking  into  a  house 
and  carrying  off  various  articles,  on  Sunday,  in  broad 
day.  The  charge  was  proved  by  twenty-five  wit- 
nesses, who  all  testified  that  they  saw  it,  as  they 
were  sitting  with  the  owner  of  the  house.  The 
assistant  magistrate,  a  young  man  of  very  little 
experience,  thought  no  case  could  be  more  clear;  and 
he  sentenced_the  supposed  criminal  to  imprisonment 
with  labour.  The  matter  was  brought  before  the 
judge  by  appeal ;  and  he  directed  the  discharge  of 
the  man  on  the  simple  ground  that  the  mor»  eye- 
witnesses there  were  pretended  to  be  of  such  an  act, 
the  more  improbable  it  became — that  he  could  not 
believe  the  accuser,  with  twenty-five  able-bodied  men 
with  him,  would  see  his  house  broken  open  by  any 
three  men  and  not  resist  it ;  and  neither  would  any 
three  men  perform  such  an  act  in  such  circumstances. 
The  natives  all  praised  this  decision,  and  said  this 
was  all  the  weight  that  ought  to  be  allowed  to  direct 
evidence,  when  circumstances  were  against  its  proba- 
bility. Had  the  jud^e,  as  many  would  have  done, 
considered  every  man's  oath  good  who  could  not  be 
convicted  of  perjury,  the  poor  victim  of  a  stupid  con- 
spiracy must  have  served  out  his  time  in  prison.  The 
accuser,  the  accused,  and  all  the  witnesses  in  this 
case  were  Mohammedans. 

I  ought  to  state,  for  my  own  good  name,  that  after 
circumstances  hud  shown  that   our  bearer  was   not 


32  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

the  thief  that  I  had  supposed  him  to  be,  I  exerted 
myself  to  get  him  another  place,  and  succeeded. 

One  of  my  principal  employments  during  this  first 
summer  was  studying  the  language.  The  first  teacher 
proposed  to  me  was  Patthras,  [Peter]  a  native  Cate- 
chist.  He  came  to  me  two  or  three  days  after  my 
arrival,  introduced  by  one  of  the  mission,  and  began 
to  talk  to  me  in  Hindustani,  as  if  I  knew  it  already. 
I  tried  my  very  few  words  of  his  language,  but  we 
got  on  badly.  At  length  I  managed  to  ask  him  how 
he  intended  to  make  me  understand  him,  as  we  had 
no  language  in  common.  He  answered  in  Hindus- 
tani, "  by  the  dictionary."  I  did  not  understand  the 
word  that  meant  dictionary  ;  and  after  he  had  repeated 
it  many  times,  with  many  contortions  and  increasing 
loudness  of  voice,  as  if  emphasis  would  make  me 
understand,  he  mustered  up  his  English  and  said, 
"  dissenherry."  I  was  so  stupid  that  this  was  unintel- 
ligible too,  till  he  laid  hold  of  the  book,  and  told  me 
this  was  the  dissenherry .  I  commenced  reading  the 
gospel  of  Matthew  with  him ;  but  we  could  not  go  on 
together.  His  education  had  not  been  such  as  to 
exercise  his  mind  at  all,  and  he  could  not  explain  any- 
thing; he  was  fat  and  gross,  and  a  little  labour  or 
heat  put  him  almost  out  of  his  senses;  and  he  was 
never  punctual,  but  always  disappointing  me  and 
making  lame  excuses.  Beside  this,  I  soon  found  that 
it  would  not  answer  to  lay  myself  under  any  obliga- 
tion to  him :  he  had  already  tried  to  borrow  money 
from  me,  and  to  get  me  to  do  various  things  for  him, 
which  showed  his  greed  most  disagreeably.  After 
making  an  unsatisfactory  beginning  with  him,  it  was 
determined  that  I  must  have  a  better  teacher ;  and  it 
was  fortunate  that  this  change  was  made  so  soon:  for 
I  afterward  discovered  that  he  had  allowed  me  to  give 
wrong  sounds  to  certain  peculiar  letters,  and  wrong 
accents,  without  correcting  me ;  and  in  a  short  time 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  33 

longer  bad  habits  would  have   been  formed,  which  it 
would  have  been  very  difficult  to  get  rid  of. 

Patthras  was  by  birth  a  Musalmdn,  of  Lucknow. 
He  had  been  a  soldier,  and  held  some  inferior  mili- 
tary office,  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  Oude,  at 
Lucknow — the  splendid  and  corrupt — the  Paris  of 
India.  Perhaps  a  worse  school  for  the  education  of 
a  man  could  not  be  found  in  the  world  than  employ- 
ment about  the  court  of  Lucknow.  The  government 
is  Mohammedan  of  the  worst  stamp ;  the  people 
effeminate  and  vicious  beyond  all  European  imagina- 
tion ;  offices  are  always  bought,  and  the  best  part  of 
their  income  is  made  up  of  bribes  and  the  fruits  of 
oppression.  Every  man  in  office  preys  upon  those 
below  him.  The  office  that  Patthras  held  under  this 
government  had  a  nominal  pay  of  about  fourteen 
dollars  a  month  attached  to  it,  which  was  often  long 
in  arrears;  while  he  was  married  to  two  wives,  and 
accustomed  to  some  luxury  and  show.  He  had  there- 
fore become  accustomed  to  cunning  and  rapacity,  but 
was  no  worse  than  his  fellows  :  probably  was  n  fair 
average  man  for  that  place.  Though  I  would  not 
dare  to  say  that  he  never  was  a  Christian  by  convic- 
tion, yet  it  was  evident  that  the  leaven  of  his  educa- 
tion remained,  and  continually  fermented.  As  there 
is  an  English  resident  at  Lucknow,  to  look  after  the 
interests  of  the  East  India  Company's  Government, 
and  some  assistants,  besides  some  English  and  East 
India  people  in  business,  the  Company  keeps  a  chap- 
lain and  surgeon  there.  Patthras  became  acquainted 
with  some  of  these,  ajid  was  led  to  examine  Chris- 
tianity. The  chaplain  took  him  under  instruction; 
and,  after  he  had  separated  from  one  of  his  wives, 
settling  some  little  landed  property  on  her,  he  bap- 
tized him.  Thus  he  stripped  himself  of  his  little 
hereditary  estate,  parted  with  a  wife  of  whom  he 
always  professed  to  be  fond,  and  lost  his  commission. 
in  the  army.  He  was  looked  upon  at  the  time  as 


34  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

quite  a  martyr ;  and  far  be  it  from  me  to  say  that  it 
was  all  rascality  :  he  may  have  been  sincere.  But 
his  latter  course  laid  him  open  to  the  shafts  of  suspi- 
cion :  it  could  be  said  that  he  had  experienced  the  evils 
of  bigamy,  and  was  willing  to  give  up  one  wife  in 
order  to  live  in  peace  with  the  other;  that  his  land 
was  not  sufficient  to  support  his  family,  and  brought 
him  little  or  nothing  when  he  could  not  personally 
superintend  it,  and  so  was  no  sacrifice  when  given  up  ; 
and  that  he  hoped  to  be  petted  and  made  great  by 
the  English,  which  would  more  than  compensate  for 
the  loss  of  his  office.  It  could  also  be  supposed  that 
he  was  one  who  sincerely  took  up  with  the  truth, 
but  when  called  to  suffer  for  it,  was  offended.  His 
old  corrupt  education  and  habits,  at  any  rate,  resumed 
their  influence.  He  became  first  luxurious  again,  and 
got  in  debt ;  then,  when  dunned  by  his  creditors,  he 
made  rapacious  demands  of  his  employers  ;  then  cun- 
ning and  falsehood,  those  invariable  resorts  of  the 
weak  and  slavish,  were  taken  up  .again ;  then  rage 
against  us,  for  not  satisfying  his  cupidity  came  on  ; 
and  finally  apostasy,  or  playing  fast  and  loose  with 
both  Christianity  and  Isldm,  was  the  last  scene  of  his 
history  with  which  I  became  acquainted. 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  Patthras  was 
suffered  to  go  to  ruin  in  this  way  without  the  most 
strenuous  efforts  on  our  part  to  preserve  him  from  a 
fall.  He  had  been  taken  up  by  two  gentlemen  at 
Allahabad,  who  paid  his  whole  wages,  and  set  him  to 
work  under  our  Mission,  and  in  the  especial  charge  of 
Mr.  Morrison.  These  gentlemen  gave  him  an  income 
that  secured  him  and  his  family  a  better  living  than 
nine  out  of  ten  families  of  the  same  rank  in  Hindus- 
tdn  have;  and  they  looked  after  him  diligently,  gave 
him  advice  and  encouragement,  and  befriended  him 
in  every  possible  way.  They  once  paid  his  debts, 
and  cleared  him  of  all  his  difficulties,  on  his  promise 
to  live  within  his  income  for  the  future,  and  to  ask  no 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  35 

more  similar  favours.  When  he  again  got  into  the 
same  kind  of  difficulties,  and  to  a  greater  extent,  Mr. 
Morrison  fully  relieved  him,  after  pitying  him, 
instructing  him,  and  doing  everything  that  the  largest 
interpretation  of  Christian  obligation  could  demand. 
Patthras,  as  before,  promised  everything,  but  went 
on  in  the  same  course  worse  and  worse.  His  creditors 
at  length  pressed  him  again.  He  promised  falsely, 
and  equivocated.  He  thought  us  severe,  and  told 
several  persons  of  his  troubles.  The  Episcopal  chap- 
lain of  the  station,  a  good  but  weak  man,  thought  he 
could  manage  him,  and  we  consented  that  he  should 
try.  His  two  friends  agreed  to  pay  his  salary  into 
the  chaplain's  hands,  and  he  agreed  rigidly  to  see 
that  Patthras's  necessities  were  cared  for,  and  to  pay 
all  that  could  be  saved  monthly  to  his  creditors. 
Patthras  consented  to  this  arrangement ;  but  before 
a  week  was  over  declared,  quite  falsely,  that  the 
chaplain  was  literally  starving  him.  He  told  me 
such  a  pitiful  story  that  I  gave  him  some  money;  and 
when  the  chaplain  heard  of  it,  he  was  much  offended 
at  me  for  believing  any  part  of  the  story.  Patthras 
then  quarrelled  with  the  chaplain ;  and  about  the 
same  time  came  to  me  again,  apparently  labouring 
under  all  the  excitement  of  a  madman.  He  showed 
me  the  passage  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  about  the 
community  of  goods  ;  he  accused  me  of  not  obeying 
the  command  of  Christ,  in  that  I  did  not  share  my 
goods  with  him ;  he  said  that  I  saw  him  having  need, 
and  shut  up  my  bowels  against  him.  I  treated  his 
fanatical  notions  with  all  the  forbearance  that  was 
possible,  and  calmly  taught  him  what  was  right. 
When  I  explained  to  him  that  I  did  not  think  he  had 
need,  according  to  the  sense  of  those  words  as  used 
by  the  Apostle  John,  he  became  so  thorougly  enraged 
that  the  foam  gathered  on  his  lips.  He  said  he  could 
listen  to  a  man  no  more,  who  could  give  such  a  selfish 
interpretation  to  Scripture ;  and  when  asked  if  his 


36  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

own  interpretation  was  not  as  liable  to  be  considered 
selfish,  he  took  a  sudden  and  angry  leave  of  me.  A 
few  days  afterward  he  pretended  some  business  at 
Lucknow,  and  got  a  fortnight's  leave  of  absence  from 
his  employers,  and  never  returned. 

This  circumstance,  coming  as  it  did  in  the  early 
part  of  my  missionary  life,  distressed  me  greatly. 
And  even  now  I  cannot  think  of  the  case  without  sin- 
cere grief.  The  poor  man  must  have  been  a  most  des- 
perate hypocrite  all  the  time ;  or  have  fallen  into  snares 
of  the  \\icked  one,  that  ought  to  excite  our  deepest 
pity.  Whatever  view  we  take  of  his  case,  it  is  one 
that  causes  sorrow. 

After  Patthras  ceased  to  be  my  Munshi,  as^  a 
teacher  of  languages  is  usually  called  there,  I  en- 
gaged an  elderly  man,  who  had  been  the  Munshi  of 
many  gentlemen.  He  was  a  Musalman,  learned  in 
Persian  and  Hindustani,  and  thought  himself  learned 
in  many  other  things.  He  had  various  quips  of  logic, 
that  he  thought  most  profound  and  valuable;  and  fer- 
vently believed  many  most  monstrous  fables  about 
natural  history  and  science,  that  were  vastly  amusing. 
He  was  pliable,  affable,  polite,  quick,  shrewd,  and 
very  conversable.  With  his  private  character  I  had, 
of  course,  nothing  to  do,  even  though  it  could  not  be 
considered  a  matter  of  indifference  to  me;  but  there 
was  no  reason  to  suppose  it  very  estimable.  All  that 
I  know  about  it  with  any  certainty  is,  that  he  was  an 
opium-eater,  and  showed  in  his  conversation  a  great 
deal  of  unscrupulousness  as  to  morals,  while  vaunting 
highly  his  honourable  principles.  With  this  man  I 
continued  the  reading  of  the  gospel,  and  began  that 
of  some  native  works  of  fiction,  which  are  thought 
most  useful  for  teaching  one  the  idiom  of  the  lan- 
guage; but  the  greatest  advantage  was  derived  from 
talking  with  him.  I  undertook  to  teach  him  Chris- 
tianity, and  our  conversations  on  this  subject  were 
long  and  interesting.  He  helped  me  to  words.  He 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  37 

had  acquired  a  perfectly  wonderful  faculty  of  seeing 
what  word  his  pupil  wanted,  and  would  turn  it  up  in. 
the  dictionary,  and  tell  how  to  fit  it  into  the  sentence 
that  was  being  framed,  without  at  all  interrupting  the 
train  of  the  conversation.  Then  he  made  me  tell  him 
long  stories  about  railroads,  telegraphs,  electricity, 
chemistry,  governments  and  customs  in  Europe  and 
America,  and  "Nupaloon  Boniparty,"  whom  he 
thought  almost  a  greater  man  than  Alexander  the 
Great — a  decided  stretch  of  belief  for  an  oriental;  for 
Alexander  is  the  only  person  in  Ancient  History, 
having  a  connection  with  Europe,  of  whom  the  orien- 
tals now  know  anything,  save  as  such  knowledge  ia 
newly  introduced  along  with  English  education.  The 
Munshi  sometimes  told  me  tales,  watching  my  coun- 
tenance to  see  where  he  needed  to  explain  more  fully. 
He  set  me  right  about  the  pronunciation  of  difficult 
letters,  and  advised  me  to  walk  up  and  down  the  ve- 
randah practising.  Accordingly  hours  on  hours  were 
spent  in  this  peculiar  exercise — an  excellent  mode, 
amongst  others,  of  acquiring  a  correct  enunciation 
and  intonation.  After  a  few  months  passed  in  this 
way,  I  was  obliged  to  discharge  this  man,  in  order  to 
unite  with  Mr.  Freeman  in  hiring  one  man  between 
us  both,  from  motives  of  economy.  This  man  was  a 
good  teacher  also ;  and,  after  ceasing  to  be  Mr.  Free- 
man's teacher,  for  many  years  was  attached  to  the 
printing-house  as  Munshi  and  proof-reader;  and,  of 
course,  he  continued  to  give  rne  occasional  assistance 
in  the  language.  This  was  a  considerable  advantage. 
We  may  well  doubt  whether  there  is  not  often  an  un- 
wise economy  practised  as  to  the  expense  of  language 
teachers  for  missionaries.  It  is  customary  to  dis- 
charge them  as  soon  as  they  can  be  dispensed  with, 
when  it  would  be  much  better,  in  many  cases,  to  re- 
tain their  services  for  several  years:  the  missionary's 
preaching  and  writing  would  often  be  incalculably  the 
better  for  it,  if  he  have  a  talent  for  language  worth 
4 


38  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

cultivating  at  all.  A  man  has  not  learned  to  spoak  a 
foreign  language  when  he  can  tell  in  English  the 
meaning  of  what  he  reads  and  hears,  and  can  be  un- 
derstood when  he  speaks:  there  is  something  beyond 
all  this.  To  speak  effectively  he  must  gain  the  power 
of  speaking  like  a  fluent  native.  A  great  deal  of 
practice,  and  a  scholarly  companion  to  guide  him,  are 
both  necessary  to  the  missionary  for  this  end. 

The  Munshi  last  referred  to  was  a  much  more  se- 
date man  than  the  former  one;  he  was  even  severely 
formal  in  his  outward  manner.  He  was  very  devout 
and  religious,  and  expressed  so  much  concern  to  ar- 
rive at  all  that  was  true,  that  I  often  had  great  hope 
that  he  would  be  converted  to  Christianity.  This 
hope  was,  for  a  long  time,  encouraged  by  his  whole 
manner.  He  was  mild  and  reasonable  in  discussions 
of  religious  points,  and  seemed  deeply  impressed  with 
a  conviction  of  certain  deficiencies  in  the  Mohamme- 
dan system.  He  often  shed  tears  in  our  conversations 
when  the  love  of  Christ  was  set  forth;  and  once  told 
me  that  the  Christian  scheme  of  salvation  was  beau- 
tiful, perfect,  and  entirely  worthy  of  God.  But  I  at 
last  discovered,  with  intense  pain,  that  two  things 
hindered  his  conversion.  The  first  was  spiritual 
pride:  he  could  not  be  persuaded  that  he  was  not 
quite  pious  and  righteous  already.  His  zeal,  devotion, 
and  religious  reputation  were  as  great  <hinderances  to 
his  practically  coming  to  the  light,  as  open  and  out- 
rageous vice  can  ever  be.  The  second  hinderance  was 
his  love  of  women:  Christian  practice  in  this  respect 
was  not  at  all  to  his  taste;  and  the  license  allowed  by 
Isldm  was  highly  so.  There  was  something  extremely 
odd  and  disgusting  in  his  sanctified  appearance  and 
his  lasciviousness  taken  together;  but  he  was  proba- 
bly unable  to  perceive  their  incongruity.  A  pretty 
widow,  whom  he  had  kept  in  his  house  for  some  time, 
on  the  footing  of  supplementary  wife,  ran  away  with 
all  the  family  jewels.  He  came  to  me  with  the  de- 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  39 

tails  of  her  crime,  suffering  great  shame  and  vexation. 
I  pointed  out  to  him  that  this  could  not  have  hap- 
pened had  his  domestic  relations  been  on  the  Christian 
plan,  and  told  him  that  sin  brought  sorrow.  He  said 
he  had  not  been  sinning:  he  had  taken  the  woman  to 
keep  her  from  being  ruined  by  some  bad  fellows. 
"And  her  living  with  you  was  not  the  same  kind  of 
ruin?"  He  made  no  reply.  Now  I  am  quite  aware 
that  this  account  of  my  teacher  may  seem  indelicate 
to  some  people.  But  I  reply,  to  any  such  objection, 
that  my  object  is  to  show  the  people  and  the  charac- 
ter and  operation  of  their  religious  notions;  and  that 
this  cannot  be  done  in  any  better  way.  I  have  men- 
tioned above  a  transaction  that  was  considered  per- 
fectly allowable  and  respectable  by  the  society  in 
which  the  Munshi  moved. 

During  this  year  our  friend,  the  Rev.  James  Wil- 
son, was  living  not  far  from  us.  He  was  four  years 
my  senior  as  a  missionary,  and  preached  in  Hindus- 
tdni  with  considerable  ease.  He  had  a  Hindustani 
service  in  a  room  where  the  orphan  girls'  school  was 
taught.  This  service  was  regularly  attended  by  me, 
partly  for  "the  sake  of  example,  and  partly  to  learn 
the  language.  This  was  of  great  advantage  to  me; 
for  though  at  first  I  understood  nothing,  very  soon 
some  phrases  became  known ;  then  others ;  then 
many  words,  which  I  did  not  understand,  were  looked 
up  in  the  dictionary;  idioms  were  noticed:  in  short, 
a  sort  of  preaching  dialect  became  familiar  to  me, 
and  assisted  me  in  a  way  that  the  books  I  was  read- 
ing would  not  have  done.  In  the  course  of  this 
season  Mr.  Wilson  baptized  an  elderly  Musalman 
•woman.  This  was  the  first  baptism  of  a  native  that 
I  had  seen,  and  I  was  greatly  encouraged  by  it. 
My  memory  now  goes  back  to  this  and  some  other 
occasions,  and  fixes  upon  them,  as  luminous  points, 
•with  great  joy.  This  first  baptism;  the  first  Hin- 
dustani communion  at  Allahabad;  the  opening  of  the 


40  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

church  that  we  built  there;  the  finishing  of  the  build- 
ings for  the  printing-house ;  the  completion  of  the 
fund  for  buying  our  school-houses  at  Agra;  and 
several  other  occurrences,  show  me  that  I  have  much 
to  be  thankful  for. 

My  studies  during  this  first  summer  were  much 
interrupted  by  the  sickness  of  Mrs.  Warren.  We 
were  at  one  time  afraid  that  her  health  would  not 
endure  the  climate  of  India,  even  if  she  should  sur- 
vive the  first  summer.  But  it  pleased  God  to  restore 
her,  and  still  to  spare  her  to  return  to  America  with 
me,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  sixteen  years.  Her 
illness  was  caused,  no  doubt,  partly  by  the  exposures 
of  our  journey,  and  by  her  sorrows;  but  I  may  as 
well  state,  for  the  warning  of  all  who  may  be  in  a 
position  to  profit  by  it,  that  it  probably  was  also 
caused  by  our  mode  of  living  during  the  early  part  of 
that  summer.  We  had  been  obliged  to  contract  a 
debt  to  the  full  amount  of  the  price  of  a  horse  and 
buggy,  and  our  furniture  was  most  scanty.  We 
therefore  determined  to  live  in  the  practice  of  the 
most  severe  economy ;  and  kept  the  table  as  low 
as  possible,  and  avoided  the  employment  of  men 
for  the  tatti  and  pankhd.  The  tatti  is  a  thin  screen 
made  of  the  fragrant  root  of  a  grass,  and  is  used  in 
a  door,  where,  wetted  frequently,  it  causes  coolness 
in  the  house  by  the  evaporation  of  the  water,  which 
is  very  rapid  when  the  hot  wind  is  blowing.  The 
pankM  is  a  large  fan,  usually  hung  in  all  India  rooms, 
and  swung  by  a  rope  that  runs  through  the  wall. 
The  agitation  of  the  air  caused  by  it  is  very  refresh- 
ing. These  two  means  of  mitigating  the  heat  are 
universally  resorted  to  by  all  Europeans  in  Upper 
India,  where  the  heat  is  much  greater  than  near 
Madras  or  Bombay,  though  the  latitude  is  higher. 
The  Government  furnishes  these  articles  in  the  bar- 
racks of  European  regiments ;  and  this  fact  proves 
that  they  cannot  be  considered  luxuries,  but  rather 
\ 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  41 

necessaries.  The  expense  is  not  very  great,  because 
unskilled  labour  is  exceedingly  cheap  there;  but  we 
thought  it  our  duty  to  save  it.  This  economy  was 
unwise,  because  injurious.  The  medical  man  at  length 
peremptorily  ordered  us  to  resort  to  the  pankhd. 

It  may  very  likely  occur  to  some  reader  to  say,  in 
substance,  "  How  much  better  it  would  be  if  mission- 
aries would  go  out  unmarried  !  See  how  much  unhap- 
piness,  and  even  hinderance  to  this  writer's  proper 
work,  resulted  from  his  having  encumbered  himself 
with  a  wife."  If  this  objection  to  the  marriage  of 
missionaries  possessed  no  force,  it  would  not  be  worth 
while  to  answer,  or  even  refer  to  it:  it  is  just  because 
it  contains  truth  that  it  ought  to  be  answered. 
Nothing  is  gained  by  taking  up  ultra-positions;  there- 
fore let  it  be  confessed  that  there  may  be  men  and  cir- 
cumstances such  as  to  make  celibacy  desirable.  But 
generally,  and  especially  in  India,  it  is  better  that  a 
missionary  should  be  married.  All  the  ordinary 
arguments  in  favour  of  the  marriage  of  the  clergy 
apply  in  the  case  of  the  missionary,  and  these  it  is 
not  necessary  to  repeat.  All  the  special  objections 
to  the  marriage  of  missionaries,  who  are  going  to 
barbarous  places,  fail  of  their  force,  in  a  great  de- 
gree, when  applied  to  India ;  because  there  medical 
assistance  can  usually  be  procured,  and  we  live  under 
a  regular  system  of  laws  duly  administered. 

The  special  reasons  why  a  missionary  to  India 
ought  to  be  married  are  as  follows: — Our  work  there 
is  regular,  not  admitting  of  much  excitement,  and 
often  involves  great  trials  of  faith  and  patience.  A 
missionary  is  often  isolated  from  general  society  to  a 
great  extent;  and  if  he  have  occasional  invitations  to 
the  houses  of  English  residents  and  fellow  mis- 
sionaries, they  can  occupy  but  comparatively  little  of 
his  time,  leaving  him  generally  the  sole  occupant  of 
his  house.  If,  in  these  circumstances,  he  becomes 
listless,  languid  and  melancholy,  there  is  not  much 
4* 


42  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

cause  for  wonder.  It  would  be  no  small  advantage 
to  have  his  family  about  him,  to  produce  a  change  in 
his  ideas  and  feelings;  and  a  good  wife  would  incite 
him  to  keep  on  in  patience  and  hope.  The  amount 
of  the  gentlemen's  labour  that  ought  thus  to  be 
carried  to  the  credit  of  their  ladies,  no  stranger  to 
our  work  can  conceive.  It  is  true  that  now  and  then  a 
sick  wife  causes  the  return  of  a  missionary  from  the 
field ;  but  I  am  confident  that  if  it  were  a  matter 
that  could  be  sifted  by  an  impartial  person,  he  would 
find  that  many  married  men  remain  in  the  field  vastly 
longer  than  they  would  have  done  if  unmarried ;  and 
that  more  men  leave  the  work  because  they  are  not 
married,  than  because  they  are.  I  have  known 
several  bachelor  missionaries,  and  have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  that,  with  a  few  happy  exceptions,  they 
were  sickly,  did  not  settle  to  their  work  well,  and 
were  not  able  to  preserve  that  suavity  which  was 
necessary  to  their  own  and  their  associates'  comfort; 
and,  when  some  of  them  were  afterwards  married, 
they  proved  to  be  as  hearty,  steady,  industrious  and 
agreeable  as  any  men.  Some  of  these  statements 
may  be  doubted,  and  the  arguments  may  produce  a 
smile ;  but  being  deeply  conscious  that  in  them  I  am 
uttering  great  truths — indeed,  that  their  greatness  is 
exactly  in  proportion  to  their  homeliness — I  shall  not 
be  deterred  from  saying  them.  A  second  special 
reason  for  our  being  married  is,  that  a  single  man 
cannot  deal  with  the  native  Christian  women  as  it  is 
desirable  to  do.  A  wife's  influence,  example  and 
instructions  are  requisite.  What  could  I  have  done 
towards  advising  young  girls  from  the  orphan  asylum, 
when  first  married  to  very  young  men  in  the  printing- 
house?  Every  person  of  any  reflection  can  perceive 
how  important  it  was  to  our  new  community  that  a 
woman  should  aid  in  forming  it.  Another  fact,  to  show 
that  a  lady  should  be  present,  is  the  absence  of  any 
proper  sense  of  the  value  of  chastity  amongst  the 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  43 

people.  Even  the  native  Christian  women  do  not  feel 
on  this  matter  as  American  women  do.  The  civilized 
ideas  that  have  made  unchasteness  a  special  sin  and 
loss  of  honour,  have  yet  to  grow  up  there  as  a  pro- 
duct of  mature  Christianity ;  at  present  it  is  no  more 
than  any  other  transgression  of  the  law  in  their  esti- 
mation. This  fact  makes  it  peculiarly  necessary  that 
a  Christian  lady  should  be  amongst  them,  to  aid  by  her 
example  and  her  precepts  in  forming  a  proper  senti- 
ment on  such  subjects.  A  gentleman  might,  indeed, 
preach  all  that  need  to  be  said  about  this  subject ;  but 
no  one  but  the  missionary's  wife  can  exert  that  unde- 
fined, often  unrecognized,  but  most  important  influence 
that  always,  as  it  were,  floats  around,  and  is  diffused 
by  the  true  Christian  woman — for,  if  the  missionary  is 
not  married,  no  lady  will  be  so  situated  as  to  exert  this 
influence  upon  his  people.  And  the  absence  of  pro- 
per ideas,,which  is  here  referred  to.  places  the  unmar- 
ried missionary  in  danger.  This,  however,  is  a  part 
of  the  subject  to  which  I  will  only  allude.  Still 
another  reason  why  missionaries  should  be  married  is, 
that  the  natives  usually  take  it  for  granted  that  all 
single  men  are  unchaste.  They  know  so  much  of 
their  own  desperate  corruption,  that  they  consider 
purity  impossible. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE     PHI N TING-HOUSE. 


WHEN  it  was  arranged  that  Allahabad  should  be  my 
station,  it  was  determined  that  advantage  should 
be  taken  of  my  knowledge  of  the  printing  business  to 
set  up  a  press  there.  In  the  course  of  the  history  of 
this  undertaking  the  reasons  for  it  will  sufficiently 
appear;  and  therefore  it  is  not  necessary  to  set  them 
out  formally  here.  This  plan  suited  my  tastes  in  some 


44  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

respects:  I  was  fond  of  the  press,  and  of  that  class 
of  undertakings  that  are  connected  with  it.  It  had 
been  my  intention  once  to  make  my  way  in  the  world 
as  editor  and  publisher  of  a  newspaper;  and  this  in- 
tention had  been  laid  aside  when  an  overpowering 
sense  of  duty  made  me  seek  the  ministerial  office. 
Now,  when  something  like  my  old  propensity  could 
be  gratified  along  with  the  employments  of  my  new 
calling,  the  prospect  was  very  pleasing  to  me.  I  do 
not,  on  the  whole,  regret  my  course  in  this  respect; 
though  I  at  length  became  thoroughly  weary  of  the 
amount  of  secular  business  that  was  involved  in  it. 
I  still  believe  that  the  press  was  as  important  to  our 
operations  at  that  time  as  I  thought  it  to  be,  and  but 
little  less  so  now;  and  that  carrying  it  on  is  a  busi- 
nese  most  honourable  and  useful ;  but  the  desire  to 
preach  and  translate  more  than  that  employment  al- 
lowed me  time  to  do,  induced  me,  two  years  before 
leaving  India,  to  turn  over  the  place  to  my  successor 
very  gladly.  The  Rev.  L.  G.  Hay  of  Indiana,  who 
was  sent  out  to  relieve  me  at  my  request,  has  charge 
of  the  press  now. 

A  medium  iron  press,  three  kinds  of  English  type, 
and  a  considerable  quantity  of  printing  paper,  were 
sent  out  with  us.  These  went,  with  our  baggage,  to 
Allahabad  by  boat.  It  would  have  been  well  if  I  had 
remained  in  Calcutta  some  time,  to  learn  the  ways  of 
Indian  printing-houses,  to  find  out  what  was  wanting 
in  my  apparatus,  to  remedy  defects  where  there  were 
workmen  accustomed  to  such  things,  and  to  learn 
from  our  friends  up  the  country  what  kind  of  work  we 
should  have  to  do,  so  that  the  necessary  kinds  of 
oriental  type  and  workmen  could  be  engaged  at  once. 
But  a  complete  want  of  experience  in  these  respects 
prevented  all  parties  from  knowing  what  to  do. 

When  we  arrived  at  Benares  we  found  that  the 
missionaries  of  the  Church  of  England  and  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  with  some  other  friends 


IN   NOKTH   INDIA.  45 

of  the  cause,  had  formed  a  Tract  Society,  or  were 
about  to  do  so;  and  that,  because  there  was  no  print- 
ing establishment  that  could  at  all  do  their  work 
nearer  than  Calcutta  on  the  one  side  (four  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles),  and  Lodiana  on  the  other 
(nearly  seven  hundred  miles),  they  had  intended  to 
set  up  a  press  for  themselves,  and  as  a  beginning  had 
bought  a  Persian  and  a  Nagari  fount  of  type.  But 
they  were  encompassed  with  difficulties:  they  had 
amongst  them  no  one  who  possessed  any  of  the  me- 
chanical experience  that  was  requisite,  and  there  were 
no  workmen  within  their  reach;  the  engagements  of 
all  the  missionaries  were  such  that  no  one  could  be 
found  to  take  that  efficient  charge  of  the  affair  that 
alone  could  render  it  successful;  they  had  neither 
press  nor  buildings;  and  above  all,  they  had  no  money 
— the  income  which  they  expected  their  society  to 
have,  being  by  no  means  adequate  to  such  an  under- 
taking; for  these  reasons  they  proposed  to  me  to  buy 
their  type,  and  thus  enable  them  to  give  up  their 
plan ;  and,  as  the  type  was  what  we  should  certainly 
require,  we  agreed  to  take  if  off  their  hands.  This 
Benares  movement  is  mentioned  merely  to  show  that 
such  a  press  as  ours  was  wanted  in  that  region.  At 
that  time,  beside  our  Mission  press  at  Lodiana,  there 
were  only  two  presses  in  all  the  region  north  and 
west  of  Calcutta,  and  these  were  principally  engaged 
in  printing  two  English  newspapers  at  Delhi  and 
Agra.  Since  the  establishment  of  ours  a  large  mis- 
sion press  has  grown  up  at  Mirzapore,  a  very  large 
one  at  Agra,  a  small  private  one  at  the  same  place,  a 
large  newspaper  establishment  at  Meerut,  since  re- 
moved to  Agra,  another  large  newspaper  and  job 
press  at  Lahor,  and  a  smaller  one  at  Benares.  Be- 
side these,  little  lithographic  presses  have  sprung  up 
all  over  the  country  in  great  numbers,  for  printing 
Urdlj  and  Persian  books.  These  grow  up  like  mush- 
rooms, and  often  fail  like  them  too.  About  two 


46  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

years  since  there  were  seven  at  Agra  alone.  Not- 
withstanding this  great  increase  of  presses,  ours  has 
experienced  no  lack  of  work.  This  certainly  shows 
that  our  press  was  needed  when  established ;  and  it 
also  exhibits  a  great  and  gratifying  improvement  of 
the  country  in  some  respects. 

The  languages  and  dialects  in  which  we  had  to 
work,  may  as  well  be  mentioned  here,  in  order  that 
future  allusions  to  them  may  be  easily  understood. 

The  language  of  Upper  India  is  divided  into  two 
dialects,  having  mainly  the  same  grammar.  Some- 
times these  dialects  are  distinguished  as  the  Hindus- 
tdni  and  the  Hindui,  or  Hindi.  By  these  terms  it 
was  probably  intended  to  make  the  first  as  belonging 
to  the  country  at  large,  that  is,  to  Hindustan;  and 
the  second  as  being  proper  to  the  branch  of  the  peo- 
ple called  Hindus.  In  these  senses  the  terms  are  not 
inappropriate ;  for  the  Hindustani  is  a  sort  of  lingua 
franca — a  language  spoken  more  or  less  all  over  the 
country;  and  the  Hindui  is  nearly  confined  to  the 
Hindis  of  the  north-west.  But  the  more  general  dia- 
lect is  more  exactly  designated  by  the  term  Urdu, 
which  means  the  Camp,  indicating  the  origin  of  it  in 
the  camp  of  the  Persian-speaking  invaders  of  India, 
where  it  was  formed  on  the  pure  Hindui  or  Hindi. 
From  the  north-west  it  has  been  carried  all  over 
India,  wherever  the  Musalmdn  power  extended.  But 
the  north-west  remained  its  main  field,  and  it  has 
retained  its  beauty  and  power  chiefly  there;  or  rather 
has  been  more  cultivated  there,  because  this  was  the 
chief  seat  of  the  Musalmdn  dominion.  In  this  work, 
whenever  I  speak  of  these  dialects  in  general  terms, 
not  intending  to  distinguish  one  in  particular,  I  shall 
use  the  term  Hindustani;  but  when  the  reference  is 
to  either  especially,  the  terms  Urdu  and  Hindi  will 
be  used.  The  difference  between  these  two  dialects 
consists  mainly  in  the  different  sources  from  which 
their  substantives  were  derived.  In  both  of  them  the 


IN  NORTH  INDIA.  47 

verbs  and  the  particles,  and  the  grammatical  con- 
struction and  forms  are  very  nearly  the  same ;  but 
the  U rdu  takes  the  greater  part  of  its  nouns  from  the 
Persian  and  Arabic,  while  the  greater  part  of  those 
employed  in  the  Hindi  are  either  indigenous  or  San- 
scrit. Some,  of  course,  are  common  to  both.  In 
addition  to  this,  however,  the  Urdu  often  employs  Per- 
sian constructions  by  way  of  ornament.  A  sentence, 
given  in  both  dialects,  will  illustrate  the  peculiarity  as 
to  substantives: 

Urdti — Ai  hamare  Bap,  jo  dsmdn  par  hai ! 

Hindi — Ilae  hamare  Pita,  jo  swarz  par  hai ! 

English — 0  our  Father,  who  heaven  in  art ! 

The  alphabet  generally  used  for  the  Urdu  is  the 
Persian  or  Arabic  character.  In  common  parlance 
there  is  a  distinction  made  between  the  Arabic  and 
Persian  letters,  though  they  are  identical  in  principle, 
the  latter  being  only  a  more  flowing  and  more  easily 
written  form  of  the  Arabic.  This  character  is  very 
round  and  stiff;  while  the  Persian  indulges  in  more 
elongated  strokes  and  more  flourishing  tails.  In  the 
Persian  also,  as  being  the  character  for  ordinary 
writing,  the  forms  of  some  of  the  letters  are  simplified 
a  little.  In  Hindustan  the  Persian  character  is  much 
more  easily  read,  from  its  more  constant  employment 
in  writing,  than  the  Arabic,  though  the  latter  is  much 
more  plain ;  and  towards  Lodiana  the  people  say  they 
cannot  read  the  Arabic  at  all.  It  is  highly  desirable 
to  use  the  Arabic  character  in  printing,  instead  of  the 
Persian,  whenever  it  is  possible.  The  Arabic  joins 
with  tolerable  ease ;  but  the  forms  that  have  been 
given  to  the  same  letters,  in  the  Persian  mode  of  writ- 
ing, are  such  that  it  is  impossible  to  join  them  in  a 
straight  line,  and  we  are  obliged  to  have  compound 
characters,  of  two,  three,  and  even  four  letters,  cast 
together,  in  order  to  join  them  in  the  manner  of  manu- 
script, without  doing  which  they  would  look  badly, 
and  offend  the  eye,  by  being  against  all  rule.  Ordi- 


48  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

nary  readers  may  get  a  better  idea  of  this  matter 
when  I  state,  that  with  three  hundred  boxes  in  a  type- 
case  we  can  print  Arabic  very  well ;  and  that  my  first 
fount  of  Persian  letter  had  over  eleven  hundred,  and 
was  still  very  imperfect.  Printers  will  sympathize 
with  me  when  I  tell  them,  that  the  kerns,  or  letters 
that  stood  partly  off  the  body  of  the  type,  were  almost 
half  of  the  whole  number.  These  kerns  project  above 
and  below  the  body,  as  well  as  on  both  sides.  After 
a  form  went  to  press  they  were  continually  breaking 
down,  leaving  letters  headless,  or  tailless,  or  without 
distinguishing  marks,  thus  frequently  changing  one 
letter  into  another,  and  making  a  serious  error.  On 
one  occasion,  in  printing  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  the 
breaking  of  a  slender  initial  letter  made  us  say,  "In 
the  multitude  of  lions*  there  is  safety" — instead. of 
counsellors.  This  character  is  also  a  very  wasteful 
one  for  printing:  the  lines  have  to  be  put  at  such  a 
distance  from  each  other,  that  a  small  book  becomes 
a  large  one.  For  these  reasons  we  always  use  the 
pure  Arabic  style  of  letter  when  we  can.  But,  as 
this  is  very  disagreeable  to  native  readers,  many 
efforts  are  made  to  do  printing  in  the  Persian  letter. 
Lithography  has  been  resorted  to,  and  many  books 
and  tracts  have  been  printed  by  it.  This  is  more 
expensive  than  letter-press,  and  can  never  be  an  effi- 
cient substitute  for  it,  except  for  tables,  &c.,  and 
works  of  which  but  few  copies  are  wanted. 

Further,  the  Persian  and  Arabic  characters  are 
both  unfit  for  printing,  because  they  contain  no  full 
system  of  vowels.  They  may  be  vowel-pointed  like 
Hebrew,  but  this  is  so  expensive  that  it  will  never  be 
practised  for  common  works.  As  a  specimen  of  the 
difficulties  that  assail  a  student  using  this  character 


*  My  Munslu  thoifght  this  was  all  right  enough.  He  said  he 
supposed  that  Solomon  had  learned  that  the  lions  would  politely 
wait  for  each  other,  so  that  the  man  would  have  time  to  escape! 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  49 

without  vowel  points,  let  us  take  a  word  of  three  radi- 
cals, say,  z  I  m — forming  a  word  in  common  use — 
zulm.  This  may  be  read  zalm,  zalam,  zalum,  zalira, 
zilm,  zilim,  zilam,  zilum,  zulm,  zulam,  zulum,  zulim. 
Most  other  words  of  three  radicals  may  have  all  these 
pronunciations.  Of  course,  use  commonly  enables  us 
to  perceive  what  a  word  really  is;  but  it  frequently 
happens  that  a  reader  cannot  tell  what  the  word  is, 
till  he  has  looked  onward  through  the  sentence,  and 
learned  it  from  the  connection ;  and  thus  he  some- 
times has  to  go  back  and  correct  the  pronunciation. 
For  this  reason  no  readers  are  fluent  save  those  who 
have  had  a  great  deal  of  practice;  and  it  is  usually  a 
work  of  great  difficulty  to  teach  a  boy  to  read  even 
tolerably  well. 

These  difficulties  had  been  felt  before  my  arrival  in 
India,  and  had  caused  many  to  adopt  the  plan  of 
writing  Urdu  in  the  Roman  character.  Some  dia- 
critical marks  were  adopted,  that  made  this  alphabet 
one  of  the  most  perfect  that  has  ever  been  used. 
These  marks,  so  far  as  they  can  be  made  intelligible 
to  persons  who  are  not  acquainted  with  that  language, 
are  used  in  this  work. 

The  great  reasons  for  using  this  adaptation  of  the 
Roman  alphabet  are — first,  its  economy  of  space  ;  no 
crowding  will  bring  any  native  character  used  in 
India,  into  the  same  compass  that  this  occupies. 
Printed  in  the  smallest  Arabic  or  Deo  Nagri  letters 
the  Bible  occupies  two  large  octavo  volumes  ;  while  it 
may  easily  be  put  into  a  little  more  than  half  the 
same  space  in  a  good,  fair  Roman  letter — and,  if 
crowded  as  many  English  editions  are,  it  need  be  no 
larger  than  they  are.  I  once  made  a  calculation  of 
the  expense  of  printing  and  binding  five  thousand 
Bibles  in  the  Urdu  dialect,  in  two  different  ways.  It 
was  proposed  to  print  this  number — one  thousand  of 
which  were  required  for  the  use  of  native  Christians, 
who  could,  with  very  few  exceptions,  use  the  Roman 
5 


50  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

character,  and  four  thousand  were  intended  for  distri- 
bution to  other  natives.  These  four  thousand  must 
be  printed  in  the  native  character.  It  was  thought 
by  some  that  as  there  was  to  be  an  edition  in  the 
native  character  at  any  rate,  we  could  not  afford  the 
expense  of  another  in  the  Roman;  but  my  calculation 
showed  that  the  paper,  binding  and  press-work,  that 
would  be  saved  by  putting  one  thousand  in  the  Roman 
character,  would  more  than  pay  for  setting  up  the 
type  and  reading  the  proofs  of  the  extra  edition. 
This  calculation  did  not  include  the  saving  that  would 
be  made  in  the  expense  of  transportation — not  a 
small  matter  in  such,  and  so  large,  a  country. 

The  second  reason  is,  that  there  is,  as  already 
intimated,  greater  certainty  of  readily  perceiving  the 
meaning  of  that  which  is  read.  This  mode  of  writing 
was  promoted  by  Mr.  Trevelyan  of  the  Civil  Service, 
by  Dr.  Duff,  and  by  many  others;  but  still  it  has 
met  with  most  unworthy  opposition.  Some  learned 
men  disliked  any  change.  There  is  a  spirit  of  con- 
servatism in  many  excellent  English  minds,  that 
seems  to  partake  more  of  the  nature  of  an  instinct 
than  of  a  product  of  reason.  This  conservatism  is, 
no  doubt,  highly  useful  in  many  cases ;  but  it  quite  as 
often  stands  stupidly  in  the  way  of  improvement. 
These  men  were  supported  by  a  host  of  others,  some 
of  whom  were  not  learned,  but  desired  to  appear  so, 
and  therefore  affected  to  despise  the  simpler  and  more 
certain  alphabet,  as  if  it  were  only  a  crutch  for  igno- 
rance and  imbecility.  Others  had  been  accustomed 
to  spelling  native  words  and  names,  when  they  had 
occasion  to  use  them  in  writing  English,  with  vowels 
according  to  the  English  sound ;  and  were  therefore  op- 
posed to  the  sounds  of  the  vowels  in  the  proposed  adap- 
tation of  the  Roman  alphabet,  which  were  continental. 
It  was  in  vain  to  show  them  that  the  greatest  of  their 
own  grammarians,  Sir  William  Jones,  and  the  great- 
est of  the  authors  of  oriental  dictionaries,  Shaks- 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  51 

peare  and  Yates,  used  this  alphabet — it  was  enough 
that  they  were  asked  to  adopt  a  new  use  of  the  vowels 
— they  could  see  no  reason  for  it.  In  the  face  of 
such  an  opposition  the  reform  has  made  slow  pro- 
gress, but  it  has  not  been  abandoned.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  all  Christians  will  learn  to  use  this  alpha- 
bet, so  that  books  prepared  expressly  for  them  may 
not  need  to  be  put  into  the  vastly  more  expensive 
shape;  and  it  is  certain  that  all  such  books  are  easily 
used  by  natives  educated  in  English,  whether  Chris-, 
tians  or  not.  In  this  way  this  alphabet  will  supplant 
the  others  by  degrees,  till  the  country  is  at  last  deliv- 
ered from  their  burden.  It  will  also  tend  to  throw 
into  the  shade  impure  and  mischievous  native  books. 
Beside  definiteness  and  certainty  in  spelling,  the 
Roman  character  also  affords  the  opportunity  to  use 
capitals  and  italics,  both  which  are  entirely  wanting 
in  the  native  alphabets,  as  well  as  punctuation.  Of 
course  we  cannot  print  tracts  for  promiscuous  dis- 
tribution in  this  character,  as  we  must  furnish  the 
natives  with  that  which  they  can  read. 

The  Hindi  dialect  is  usually  written  and  printed  in 
the  Deva  (or  Deo)  Nagari,  the  Sanscrit  character. 
This  is  a  square,  bold  letter,  and  very  much  better 
for  printing  than  the  Persian,  though  its  vowels 
are  placed  above  and  below  the  line,  and  are  trou- 
blesome; and  it  is  too  cumbrous  for  economical 
printing.  Still  it  is  plain,  its  vowel  system  nearly 
complete,  and  its  general  appearance  good.  Its 
chief  characteristic  is,  that  it  is  written  under  a  heavy 
straight  mark  drawn  along  the  top  of  the  word,  so 
that  the  letters  seem  to  hang  down  from  the  line,  as 
if  strung  upon  it. 

There  is  a  simplification  of  the  Nagari  alphabet, 
called  the  Kaithi,  which  is  much  used  in  some  parts 
of  the  country.  It  is  similar  in  form  to  the  Nagari, 
rather  more  expensive  in  printing,  less  definite  in 
expressing  sounds,  and  less  beautiful ;  but  it  is  very 


52  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

desirable  to  use  it  in  some  places,  because  it  is  more 
extensively  read.  We  were,  therefore,  obliged  to 
have  this  letter,  as  well  as  those  before  named,  in  our 
printing-house. 

'  From  this  it  will  be  perceived  that  we  were  obliged 
to  have  three  kinds  of  type  for  printing  the  Urdi'i 
dialect — the  Persian,  the  Arabic  and  the  Roman. 
For  the  Sanscrit  language  and  the  Hindi  dialect  we 
have  the  Nagari  and  the  Kaithi.  Then  English  work 
had  also  to  be  provided  for.  All  this  caused  the 
labour  and  care  of  commencing  such  an  establishment 
to  be  very  great.  The  work  that  a  missionary  has  to 
perform  in  qualifying  himself  to  use,  and  to  superin- 
tend any  kind  of  operations,  in  so  many  characters 
and  dialects,  is  also  not  small. 

Shortly  after  our  arrival  at  Allahabad,  a  friend, 
E.  G.  Fraser,  Esq.,  assistant  Secretary  to  the  Board 
of  Revenue,  to  whom  we  have  since  been  indebted  for 
many  more,  and  more  important  favours,  introduced 
to  me  a  native  pressman  named  Chand.*  This  man 
had  left  a  situation  not  long  before,  and  was  about  to 
go  to  Calcutta  for  employment;  but,  having  married 
at  Allahabad,  was  willing  to  remain  there.  I  agreed 
with  him  to  serve  me  for  stipulated  wages,  and  to  put 
him  upon  half  pay  till  our  printing-house  should  be 
opened.  This  was  the  commencement  of  gathering 
an  establishment  about  myself,  that  afterwards  grew 
to  something  much  larger  and  more  important.  This 
man  continued  in  the  press  till  I  left  it,  arid  was  still 
with  Mr.  Hay  when  I  passed  the  place  on  my  return 
to  America. 

The  next  step  was  the  taking  of  an  apprentice. 
Any  person  who  may  have  seen  the  little  book,  pub- 
lished by  the  Board  of  Publication,  called  "  Poor 
Blind  Sally,"  will  be  interested  by  the  fact  that  my 
apprentice  was  her  brother  John,  and  will  be  glad  to 

*  The  moon.     The  name  of  this  luminary  is  masculine  in  Hin- 
dustani. 


IN   NORTH  INDIA.  53 

hear  that  he  was  foreman  of  the  establishment  under 
Mr.  Hay,  when  I  last  saw  it.  John  and  his  sister  had 
been  separated  from  their  mother,  and  left  entirely 
destitute,  by  the  most  distressing  circumstances,  and 
had  been  brought  up  in  our  orphan  asylums.  We 
took  John  into  our  house,  and  made  preparations  for 
a  very  small  beginning  of  a  printing-house. 

By  recurring  to  the  description  of  our  bungalow, 
in  the  second  chapter,  it  will  be  seen  that  we  had 
bathing-rooms  at  three  corners.  In  one  of  these  we 
opened  the  English  type  and  put  it  in  cases.  John 
had  never  seen  a  type  before,  and  of  course  nearly 
all  the  work  had  to  be  done  by  my  own  hands.  We 
set  up  a  stand,  and  John  commenced  his  work,  in  the 
bathing-room,  on  a  little  catechism  by  John  Brown 
of  Haddington.  The  press  was  set  up  in  one  of  the 
out-houses  near  the  kitchen.  A  man,  named  Dillu, 
was  hired  to  assist  Chand.  He  was  quite  unacquainted 
with  the  business.  Thus  was  commenced  The  Pres- 
byterian Mission  Press*  at  Allahabad.  We  could 
not  expect  to  get  on  very  fast  when,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  an  imperfectly  instructed  pressman,  everything 
was  to  be  formed  by  my  own  exertions.  It  was  a 
small  beginning  ;  but  it  grew,  as  will  be  seen  in  the 
sequel,  till  it  sent  forth  the  gospel  to  the  farthest 
corners  of  that  part  of  India. 

In  a  short  time  after  this,  a  Persian  character  com- 
positor offered  his  services.  He  had  been  a  Musalmdn, 
but  now  professed  to  be  a  Christian  ;  and  he  was,  in- 
deed, a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Cawnpore, 
having  been  baptized  by  a  Mr.  Greenway.  His  name 
was  Husain  Bakhsh.  He  was  a  sharp  and  active 
fellow,  with  sufficient  learning  for  the  post  for  which 

*  This  was  the  name  of  the  Press,  by  which  it  was  known  to 
Government  as  registered.  We  wished  the  name  to  suggest  princi- 
ples. I  was  once  or  twice  amu.sed  by  noticing  the  repugnance  of  a 
good  friend  to  this  name.  He  was  an  Episcopal  Chaplain,  who 
was  having  some  work  done.  Still  he  was  uot  violent. 

5* 


54  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

he  offered  himself,  but  not  very  well  taught  as  a  printer. 
He  would  have  done  us  good  service,  however,  had  he 
not  been  a  drunkard,  quarrelsome,  and  dishonest. 
Under  his  instructions  we  made  up  cases  for  the  Per- 
sian type.  Let  printers  imagine  my  disgust  and  dis- 
may, when  it  was  found  that,  instead  of  the  one  pair 
of  cases,  which  each  man  has  before  him,  in  setting  up 
English  type,  we  had  to  put  up  two  pairs,  end  to  end, 
and  also  another  case  at  each  end,  crosswise,  on  wings, 
in  order  to  place  all  the  sorts.  We  went  on  trying  the 
type,  and  soon  discovered  that  several  necessary  com- 
binations of  letters  were  impossible  with  our  single 
letters,  and  that  there  were  no  compounds  for  them  in 
the  fount,  although  we  had  already  a  most  discouraging 
number  of  compounds :  many  could  be  made  no  other- 
wise than  by  the  knife  and  file.  We  cut,  and  filed, 
and  stuffed  paper  into  the  vacant  places  made  by  filing 
away  a  part  of  the  bodies  of  some  of  the  letters,  and 
resorted  to  many  other  means  of  making  the  letters 
join  properly.  A  job  had  been  offered  to  us  which 
was  profitable,  and  which  I  was  exceedingly  anxious 
to  do,  and  to  do  well,  as  it  was  the  first. 

Let  me  here  gratefully  record,  that  the  first  patron 
of  the  press  was  E.  A.  Reade,  Esq.,  then  collector  and 
magistrate  of  Goruckpore,  and  who  was  still  in  India 
when  I  left,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Revenue  at 
Agra.  He  gave  us  the  printing  of  what  were  called 
Dastaks,  which  are  a  kind  of  summons  to  be  served 
on  those  who  are  in  arrears  as  to  land  revenue.  The 
prices  then  paid  by  the  Government  for  public  print- 
ing were  such,  that  it  was  well  worth  while  to  take 
pains  to  secure  it.  The  dastaks  contained  a  little  table 
work,  for  which  we  had  no  rules.  Our  only  resource 
was  either  tin  cut  out  with  shears,  or  sheet  copper 
wrought  by  a  common  blacksmith.  The  compositor 
was  not  competent  to  do  anything  that  required  re- 
course to  expedients;  and  my  acquaintance  with  the 
language  was  as  yet  so  imperfect,  that  it  was  with 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  55 

great  difficulty  that  I  understood  what  was  required, 
or  made  myself  understood. 

The  cases  were  set  up  in  the  back  verandah  of  the 
bungalow,  and  my  attention  was  divided  between  John 
in  the  bathing-room,  Chand  in  the  outhouse,  Husain 
Bakhsh  in  the  verandah,  and  a  sick  wife  in  the  house. 
But  after  several  days'  effort  and  experimenting,  we 
were  successful;  the  dastaks  were  pronounced  passa- 
ble, and  were  printed.  The  labour  and  anxiety  which 
I  underwent  in  this  thing  were  great,  but  the  success 
was  proportionately  pleasant;  and,  beside  this,  we 
learned  wha't  were  the  chief  deficiencies  of  our  type, 
and  were  enabled  to  send  to  Serampore  for  the  sorts 
most  necessary.  About  the  same  time  we  discovered 
that  one  of  the  founts  of  English  type  brought  from 
America  was  imperfect,  not  having  a  single  b  or  c  in 
it.  We  got  these  made  at  Calcutta;  but  they  never 
stood  very  well  with  the  other  letters. 

After  a  few  months  the  compositor,  Husain  Bakhsh, 
got  drunk,  quarrelled  with  another  native  Christian, 
accused  him  of  stealing  a  shawl  from  him,  and  made 
such  a  tumult,  that  we  were  obliged  to  part  with  him 
at  once.  I  have  never  heard  of  him  since.  Here  it 
may  be  said,  that  some  of  our  greatest  troubles  have 
arisen  from  unprincipled  Musalmans,  who  professed  to 
become  Christians,  when  they  had  no  religious  con- 
victions whatever.  They  are  forbidden  by  the  Quran 
to  drink  anything  that  intoxicates;  and,  though  they 
would  have  no  conscience  about  it,  yet  the  Musalmiin 
community  would  expel  them  for  notorious  indulgence. 
For  this  reason  we  have  found  that  some  of  them  have 
professed  Christianity,  supposing  that  they  might  then 
drink  without  reproach  or  danger.  Occasionally  we 
have  learned,  that  the  hope  of  an  increased  income  has 
also  induced  men  of  this  sort  to  join  us.  Generally 
these  things  are  discovered  before  a  man  can  make  a 
profession  of  our  religion;  for  missionaries  are  usually 
very  cautious.  But  sometimes  they  have  been  de- 


56  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ceived.  Chaplains,  some  of  whom  are  mere  formalists, 
have  baptized  men  that  have  been  nothing  but  a  grief 
and  scandal  ever  afterward.  The  following  is  one 
instance. 

We  had  a  man  in  our  employment,  in  the  press,  for 
some  time  as  an  inquirer.  He  had  a  wife,  not  origin- 
ally a  Musalman,  but  of  a  very  low  caste  of  Hindus, 
who  had  become  a  Musalmin  in  order  to  marry  him. 
They  had  three  or  four  children.  The  man  urged  me 
to  baptize  them  all,  which  could  not  be  done,  as  he 
gave  very  little  satisfaction  by  his  progress  in  Chris- 
tian knowledge,  or  by  his  conduct.  He  met  with  an 
accident  while  drawing  water  from  a  well,  by  which 
his  cheek  bone  was  fractured ;  and  he  was  laid  up  for 
three  months,  before  the  ugly  wound  could  be  fully 
cured,  and  then  it  left  a  bad  scar.  I  paid  his  wages 
all  this  time,  as  if  he  had  been  at  work,  and  procured 
him  the  best  of  medical  attendance.  After  he  got 
well,  and  urged  me  more  and  more  to  baptize  him,  I 
told  him  that  it  could  not  be  done  at  present;  that  he 
did  not  seem  to  me  like  a  man  on  whom  had  passed 
any  spiritual  change.  On  this  he  said  he  would  leave 
me,  and  go  to  Lucknow,  his  native  place.  He  was 
accordingly  paid  up,  and  we  parted  amicably.  On  his 
way  to  Lucknow,  he  called  on  my  friend,  the  Rev.  W. 
H.  Perkins,*  at  Cawnpore,  and  wished  to  be  baptized 
by  him.  This  was  declined,  for  the  same  reasons  that 
had  made  me  refuse.  While  with  Mr.  Perkins,  he  was 
talking  about  me,  and  hinting  that  I  was  no  better 
than  I  should  be;  when  Mr.  Perkins  asked  him  what 
he  meant.  He  answered  that  I  was  a  most  gross  and 
violent  oppressor;  and  that,  if  anything  went  wrong 
in  the  printing-house,  I  made  nothing  of  throwing  the 
mallet  at  any  one's  head,  or  striking  him  with  any- 
thing that  came  to  hand;  and  added:  "Look  here, 
sir,"  laying  his  finger  on  the  scar  on  his  cheek  bone. 

*  Now  of  Hampstead,  near  London. 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  57 

"Did  he  do  that?"  asked  Mr.  Perkins.  The  man 
nodded,  and  said,  "And  for  no  fault  too."  Mr.  Per- 
kins at  once  doubted,  and  dismissed  him  ;  and  after- 
wards took  measures  to  ascertain  whether  there  was 
any  truth  in  the  story.  Both  he  and  I,  though  by 
that  time  by  no  means  inexperienced  men,  were  rather 
astonished  at  the  magnitude,  malignity,  and  causeless- 
ness  of  the  fabrication.  This  man  and  his  family  were 
shortly  afterwards  baptized  by  a  Chaplain  at  Lucknow, 
and,  as  I  was  told,  while  displaying  no  more  of  the 
spirit  of  Christ  than  before. 

Another  anecdote,  relating  to  our  troubles  from 
unprincipled  Mohammedans,  will  be  found  in  the 
fourth  chapter. 

Dillu,  the  assistant  pressman,  was  an  example  of 
making  a  profession  of  Christianity  for  gain.  He  was 
a  Musalman,  and  lived  with  a  Musalman  bad  woman, 
to  whom  he  had  never  been  married.  They  professed 
to  be  penitent  and  asked  to  be  baptized.  Though 
this  request  was  not  granted,  they  were  married  in 
Christian  fashion,  by  the  Rev.  James  Wilson,  before 
my  arrival  at  Allahabad.  After  long  trial  the  wife 
was  proved  to  be  no  better  than  before,  and  Dill6  was 
convicted  of  stealing  paper  from  the  printing-house, 
and  sent  to  jail.  They,  not  having  been  baptized, 
fell  back  into  the  ordinary  Musalman  community,  but 
not  before  they  had  done  us  a  damage  by  being  con- 
nected with  us. 

There  was  a  singular  case  connected  with  this  busi- 
ness of  Dillti's.  The  paper,  which  he  stole  from  the 
press,  he  sold  to  three  or  four  persons.  He  was  con- 
victed, and  sent  to  jail  for  three  months.  One  of  the 
receivers  was  also  senteaced  to  one  month's  imprison- 
ment. Another,  when  he  heard  of  the  search  that 
was  being  made  for  the  paper,  undertook  to  burn  that 
which  he  had — about  five  quires.  Two  of  my  ser- 
vants, the  house-bearer  and  the  printing-house  watch- 
man, who  were  on  the  look-out  for  this  man,  caught 


58  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

him  burning  the  paper,  and  snatched  it  away  from 
the  fire  when  only  a  corner  had  been  burned.     They 
brought  it  to  me  at  once.     I  examined  it,  and  knew  it 
to  be  some  of  the  stolen  paper,  because  it  was  Ameri- 
can, and  there  was  no  more  like  it  in  that  region.    It 
•was  night  when  it  was  brought;  and  as  nothing  could 
be  done  about  it  before  the  next  day,  we  placed  it  in 
one  of  the  common  rooms  of  the  house,  intending  to 
proceed  in  the  business  in  the  morning.     But  when 
the  paper  was  examined  in  the  morning,  it  was  evi- 
dently not   the  same — some  native  paper  had  been 
burned  in   a  similar  manner,  and  substituted  for  it. 
Of  course  the  receiving  of  stolen  goods  could  not  now 
be  proved.    The  man  had,  during  the  night,  bribed  my 
servants  to  allow  the  exchange,   so   that  he   might 
escape.     On  questioning  the  servants  about  it,  they, 
of  course,  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  exchange.    One 
of  them   boldly  declared  that  there  had  been  no  ex- 
change at  all.     The  other,  when  asked,  replied  in  the 
indirect  and  twisting  style  of  true   Hindustani  cun- 
ning, "My  lord,  what  can  I  say?"     A  hundred  times 
I  varied  and  repeated  the  question;    and  as  many 
times  he  managed  to  give  an  indirect  or  evasive  an- 
swer.    He  had  baffled  me  so  long,  that  it  became  to 
me  a   singular  trial  of  skill  between  us,  and  I  was 
determined  to  have  a  direct  answer;   but  "How  should 
the  slave  know  anything  about  it?" — "That was  dam- 
aged by  fire,  and  this  is  damaged  by  fire;  and  does 
not   that  indicate   they  are  the  same?"     These  and 
similar  replies  were  all  I  could  get.     At  last  I  put  the 
question,  "  Do  you  think  the  paper  has  been  changed  ?" 
and  demanded  that  his  answer  should  be  a  simple  and 
unqualified   yes,   or    no.     I    explained    to   him,    and 
threatened  him  with  jnstant  dismissal;  and  at  last, 
when  under  the  influence  of  the  most  abject  fear,  with 
the  greatest  reluctance  he  whispered  No.     Now  this 
was  the  answer  he  meant  to  give  all  the  time.    It  was 
not  fear  of  lying  that  made  him  evade  a  direct  reply ; 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  59 

but  it  was  the  cunning,  equivocating  spirit,  which  is 
ingrained  in  almost  all  that  people,  that  cannot  make 
up  its  mind  to  walk  straight  forward  in  either  right 
or  wrong. 

It  was  necessary  to  build  a  printing-house,  and  we 
had  not  money  sufficient  to  do  it  at  once,  as  it  ought 
to  have  been  done;  but  we  did  the  best  thing  that 
our  circumstances  allowed.  We  put  up  clay  walls, 
and  made  floors  as  described  in  the  second  chapter, 
where  bungalows  are  spoken  of.  The  roof  was  in- 
tended to  be  more  safe  as  to  fire,  and  more  durable, 
than  a  thatch,  and  was  made  of  tiles.  These  tiles  I 
was  advised  to  join  with  lime,  and  did  so  at  consider- 
able expense;  but  the  first  rainy  season  brought  all 
the  lime  to  the  ground.  At  first  only  two  large 
rooms  were  built,  and  a  small  store-room  for  paper. 
Afterward  two  more  rooms  were  added — one  for  the 
oriental  type,  and  one  for  miscellaneous  purposes. 
The  floors  of  these  rooms  were  soon  broken  up  by  the 
constant  trampling  upon  them ;  types  dropped  upon 
the  ground  were  commonly  lost;  and  various  other 
reasons  combined  to  cause  us  to  make  the  floors  over 
again,  using  flag-stones.  Our  windows  were  only 
Venetians,  and  did  not  keep  dust  from  the  cases.  But 
this  Was  the  best  that  we  could  do  with  the  means  at 
command. 

To  explain  some  of  my  mishaps,  it  is  necessary  to 
tell  how  lime  is  made  in  that  part  of  India;  and  this 
will  not  be  uninteresting  to  those  who  are  accustomed 
to  that  which  is  so  entirely  different.  Some  lime  is 
made  from  stone  dug  out  of  quarries,  and  burned  in 
the  same  manner  as  in  America;  but  this  is  very  ex- 
pensive, and  is  used  only  for  whitewash,  or  the  finest 
parts  of  work.  The  lime  for  common  use  is  alto- 
gether different.  It  is  made  from  kankar.  This  is  a 
kind  of  limestone  found  in  clay  strata  (I  will  leave 
scientific  men  to  say  how)  in  irregular  nodules,  rough 
and  jagged,  much  like  some  specimens  of  what  is 


60  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

called  bog  iron  ore.  This  is  collected,  and  a  kiln 
made  of  it  in  the  following  manner.  First  a  layer  of 
cow-dung,  which  has  been  kneaded  and  made  into  flat 
cakes  and  dried  (called  kauda},  is  placed  on  the 
ground  in  a  circle.  Then  a  layer  of  the  kankar  is 
placed  upon  it;  then  another  layer  of  the  kauda,  and 
another  of  the  kankar;  and  so  on,  each  layer  being  a 
little  contracted,  till  a  mound  of  five  feet  in  height  is 
raised.  This  is  then  set  on  fire,  and  the  burning  of 
the  kauda  bakes  the  kankar  sufficiently  to  make  the 
greater  part  of  it  slake.  There  are  several  modes  of 
cheating  in  this  business.  First,  the  man  who  sells 
the  kauda  may  cheat,  by  mixing  clay  or  ashes  with  it 
when  it  is  made.  The  clay,  of  course,  adulterates  the 
lime;  for  the  kankar  is  so  small  that  the  whole  mass, 
ashes  and  all,  must  pass  for  lime — there  is  no  sepa- 
rating them.  Secondly,  the  kankar,  being  dug  out 
of  clay,  may  be  allowed  to  have  a  great  deal  adhere 
to  it,  which  ought  to  be  shaken  off;  and  even  lumps  of 
clay  may  be  put  in  on  purpose.  Thirdly,  after  the 
lime  is  burnt,  and  perhaps  sold  by  specimen,  ashes 
and  clay  are  mixed  with  it.  As  this  lime  always  has 
a  dirty  colour,  it  requires  a  good  deal  of  experience, 
and  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  tests  applied  to  it,  to 
detect  these  adulterations.  I  had  unsuspiciously 
bought  lime  that  was  chiefly  clay  and  ashes,  and 
therefore  the  cement  of  my  roof  became  mud,  and  the 
floors  soon  became  dust. 

I  have  said  that  there  was  one  room  in  the  print- 
ing house  for  miscellaneous  purposes.  The  press  for 
smoothing  printed  sheets  was  in  this  room.  This 
reminds  me,  that  at  first  we  had  no  such  press,  and 
used  a  washerwoman's  smoothing  iron  when  sheets 
must  be  smoothed.  Various  other  odd  jobs  of  work 
were  done  in  this  room.  But  one  of  the  main  pur- 
poses that  it  served  was  that  of  church,  or  chapel. 
In  it  we  held  the  Hindustani  worship  on  the  Sabbath 
for  a  long  time.  It  was  not  convenient;  and  the 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  61 

appearance  of  worldly  business,  presented  by  the 
standing  press  and  piles  of  paper,  was  unfavourable 
to  the  feeling  of  sacredness,  that  ought  to  be  assisted 
by  all  circumstances  in  our  public  worship.  At 
length  it  became  too  small  for  the  congregation,  and 
we  were  compelled  to  provide  another  place,  which 
will  hereafter  be  described. 

At  an  early  period  we  built  a  depository  for  the 
tracts  and  portions  of  the  Scriptures  that  we  printed. 
It  was  a  small  room  of  about  twenty  feet  square,  and 
attached  to  the  bungalow.  After  about  two  years 
this  was  found  to  be  too  small,  and  was  taken  away. 
When  it  was  built,  none  of  us  had  any  notion  that  it 
would  ever  prove  too  small.  Such  are  the  disadvan- 
tages of  having  to  feel  one's  way  in  everything. 
Instead  of  it,  we  then  put  up  a  long  building  on  the 
north  side  of  the  yard,  near  the  house.  This  con- 
tained a  small  room  at  one  end  for  the  safe  keeping 
of  the  mission  tents  and  other  apparatus  used  in 
itinerating.  Next  to  this  was  a  room  of  about  forty 
feet  by  twenty,  which  was  the  proper  tract  and  book 
depository.  At  the  other  end  was  another  small 
room,  in  which  the  bound  books  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  of  the  American  Tract 
Society,  were  kept  for  sale.  In  this  room  we  had  our 
morning,  family  worship  in  Hindustani.  The  greater 
part  of  the  native  Christians  attended  this  exercise, 
and  our  heathen  and  Mohammedan  servants  also, 
whenever  they  could  be  induced  to  do  so  by  anything 
short  of  compulsion,  which  we  thought  it  not  right  to 
use.  The  walls  of  this  building  were  of  burnt  bricks 
laid  up  with  lime.  Experience  had  taught  me  how 
to  buy  lime ;  and  this  w&ll  is  not  likely  to  break  from 
the  weakness  of  its  materials.  The  back  wall  has  no 
windows  except  narrow  ones  close  to  the  roof  for 
ventilation.  Each  room  has  a  large  door  in  front, 
and  there  are  glass  windows  between  them.  The 
front  and  one  end  are  protected  by  a  verandah,  cov- 
6 


62  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ered  with  tiles,  and  supported  by  slender  octagonal 
stone  pillars.  The  bricks  are  painted  red,  and  the 
lime  between  them  white,  so  that  the  appearance  is 
very  neat.  The  roof  is  flat.  It  is  made  by  first  lay- 
ing beams  across  at  short  intervals,  then  covering 
them  with  flagstones,  and  over  them  making  a  cover- 
ing in  much  the  same  way  as  floors  are  made  as 
described  in  the  second  chapter. 

The  depository,  and  the  new  printing-house  which 
will  be  mentioned  below,  were  built  in  this  manner, 
because  of  two  great  dangers  to  which  books,  or  any- 
thing perishable,  are  exposed  when  they  are  to  be 
stored  throughout  the  year.  The  first  of  these  dan- 
gers is  leakage.  A  more  perishable  roof  might  let 
through  a  stream  of  water,  which  would  do  great 
damage.  Beside  this,  it  requires  such  constant  re- 
pairs that  it  is  not  so  cheap  in  the  end  as  one  that 
costs  a  greater  original  outlay. 

The  greater  danger,  however,  is  from  the  white  ant. 
This  little  insect  is  one  of  the  greatest  plagues  of 
India.  It  is  somewhat  larger  than  the  small  black 
ant  in  America,  but  nearer  the  size  of  that  than  of  the 
larger.  It  is  soft  and  watery — a  finger  placed  upon 
it  crushes  it  with  the  greatest  ease  without  rubbing  it 
at  all;  and  yet,  weak  and  delicate  as  it  is,  it  bores 
through  or  consumes  everything  softer  than  a  stone; 
destroys  immense  beams  in  the  roof's  of  houses;  strips 
the  dry  and  corrugated  bark  off  the  largest  trees; 
comes  up  through  hard  lime  floor's  and  attacks  what- 
ever is  placed  upon  them;  enters  a  box,  and  perhaps 
in  a  single  night,  leaves  you  nothing  bur,  tatters  and 
a  quantity  of  clay;  bores  through  the  foot  of  a  book- 
case, and  eats  to  the  quick  a  whole  shelf  full  of  books 
in  a  few  hours.  They  always  live  in  the  ground;  and 
some  experiments,  which  I  made  upon  them,  con- 
vinced me  that  if  their  communication  with  the  ground 
be  interrupted,  they  will  cease  their  work,  and  scatter 
away,  unless  they  can  re-establish  a  similar  road  to 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  63 

head-quarters.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that  they 
always  cover  themselves,  whenever  they  emerge  from 
the  ground,  with  wet  clay,  which  soon  becomes  dry, 
and  possesses  considerable  tenacity.  They  make  with 
this  an  arched  passage,  wide  enough  to  pass  each 
other  in  it,  wherever  they  go;  and  whenever  they 
reach  an  article  they  intend  to  eat,  they  cover  it  over 
with  a  sheet  of  this  clay,  under  which  are  numerous 
arches  of  this  kind.  In  these  they  use  their  terrible 
mandibles  with  incredible  speed  and  dexterity,  filling 
up  with  the  clay  any  space  they  may  thus  make  va- 
cant. In  this  way  it  often  happens  that  a  painted 
beam  of  timber,  the  outside  of  which  they  will  not  eat 
because  of  the  poisonous  quality  of  the  paint,  and 
which  therefore  externally  appears  to  be  sound,  is 
found  to  be  a  mass  of  clay  held  together  by  the 
tougher  bits  of  wood,  that  the  little  devourers  either 
did  not  choose  to  try  their  teeth  on,  or  left  to  brace 
their  work.  They  make  their  way  up  through  the 
walls  of  a  bungalow  to  the  height  of  thirty  feet,  and 
eat  the  grass  of  the  thatch,  filling  up  the  space  left 
with  their  honeycombed  masses  of  clay,  to  be  brought 
down  into  the  rooms  in  streams  of  mud  by  the  first 
heavy  rain  that  falls,  unless  previously  discovered  and 
removed.  Any  article  left  carelessly  on  the  ground 
over  night  is  very  likely  to  be  taken  up  riddled  in  the 
morning.  A  straw,  left  on  the  ground  in  this  man- 
ner, will  be  pretty  sure  to  be  replaced,  before  the 
next  day,  by  a  line  of  clay,  forming  a  covered  path. 
From  all  I  can  learn  of  them  they  do  not  seem  to  be  of 
the  same  species  with  the  African  white  ant — at  least 
they  do  not  build  ant-hills  like  them.*  A  friend  once 
told  me  that  they  were  the  same,  and  built  their 
houses  above  ground  when  climate,  water,  and  other 
circumstances  were  different  from  those  of  the  plains 
of  India;  and  that  he  had  seen  these  ant-hills  in  the 

*  One  of  Parley's  works  falls  into  the  error  here  alluded  to. 


64  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

tract  of  country  lying  along  the  foot  of  the  Ilimmd- 
laya  mountains.  But  when  I  recently  rode  through  a 
part  of  that  same  tract,  I  satisfied  myself  that  this 
was  a  mistake.  I  saw  what  I  at  first  took  to  be  their 
hills.  They  stood  up  four  or  five  feet  high  here  and 
there  in  the  forest;  the  rain  had  guttered  many  of 
them  into  various  angles,  and  left  pinnacles  standing 
up,  so  that  often  they  presented  no  bad  model  for  the 
exterior  of  a  Gothic  castle  or  church.  But  when  I 
examined  them,  hoping  to  see  the  interior  arrange- 
ments of  a  tribe,  they  proved  to  be  but  the  ordinary 
work  of  the  insects  over  a  stump,  which  they  had  de- 
voured. For,  when  a  forest  tree  is  cut  down,  they 
leave  the  stump  till  it  is  at  least  partially  dead,  and 
then  build  over  and  eat  it.  It  is  supposed  that  the 
instinct  of  covering  their  work  with  clay  is  given  to 
them  to  protect  themselves  from  being  destroyed  by 
birds.  To  preserve  our  books  and  paper  from  being 
destroyed  by  these  insects,  it  was  necessary  to  make 
the  buildings  as  perfect  as  possible,  and  to  resort  to 
various  plans  to  keep  the  insects  at  a  distance.  If 
sheet-iron  be  placed  under  the  feet  of  a  book-shelf, 
they  will  build  across  it,  and  climb  the  leg.  We  have 
to  apply  tar,  or  set  the  feet  into  vessels  of  oil.  The 
shelves  must  be  placed  at  a  distance  from  the  wall,  or 
the  ants  will  reach  them  by  building  out  pipes  of  clay 
from  the  wall.  These  pipes  are  sometimes  found  as 
much  as  eight  or  nine  inches  long. 

From  time  to  time  additions  were  made  to  the 
establishment,  both  of  men  and  apparatus.  A  Per- 
sian compositor,  and  one  for  the  Nagari,  were  got  up 
from  Calcutta.  A  second  and  larger  fount  of  Ndgari 
type  was  procured,  as  well  as  a  small  fount  of  Arabic, 
with  vowel-points.  After  a  time,  as  our  business 
increased,  a  new  fount  of  type  did  not  cause  such  a  sen- 
sation as  to  be  noticed  particularly.  We  were  pre- 
pared for,  and  performed,  printing  in  Arabic,  San- 
scrit, Urdu,  Hindi — the  two  last  in  two  characters 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  65 

ea-ch — and  in  English.  We  bought  a  small  fount  of 
Greek,  and  made  one  of  Hebrew,  and  executed  a  work 
containing  a  great  deal  of  both. 

The  first  tract  printed  in  the  Arabic  letter  was  in 
the  Urdu  dialect,  entitled  "A'quibat  ki  babat" — On 
the  Future  State.  The  first  in  the  Nagari  letter  was 
in  the  Hindi  dialect,  called  "Nicodemus,  or  The  In- 
quirer." Both  these  were  written  by  the  Rev.  James 
Wilson,  then  senior  missionary  at  Allahabad.  The 
first  thing  printed  in  the  Urdu-Roman  was  a  transla- 
tion, by  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Gallaudet's  "Child's  Book 
on  the  Soul."  Thus  Mr.  Wilson  had  the  honour  and 
privilege  of  giving  their  first  employment  to  three 
parts  of  our  apparatus. 

The  constant  breaking  of  the  Persian  type  and  the 
Nagari  vowel-points,  and  various  deficiencies  which 
were  continually  coming  to  view,  kept  us  sending  to 
Calcutta  for  sorts.  My  patience  was  nearly  worn  out; 
and  John  C.  Marshrnan,  Esq.,  of  Serampore,  at  length 
advised  me  to  have  a  punch-cutter  and  type-caster  of 
my  own,  saying  that  from  long  experience  he  was 
quite  convinced  we  could  never  carry  on  our  work  in 
the  oriental  alphabets  without  one,  at  such  a  distance 
from  a  type-foundry.  Allahabad  is  five  hundred 
miles  distant  from  Calcutta  by  land;  and  in  those 
days  a  steamer  took  nearly  a  month  to  get  up  the 
stream.  This  caused  delays  that  were  disastrous, 
and  induced  me  to  engage  a  man  through  Mr.  Marsh- 
man,  and  to  get  moulds  and  other  apparatus  for  cast- 
ing type  on  a  small  scale.  This  foundry  turned  out 
for  us,  from  time  to  time,  all  the  oriental  type  which 
we  required.  It  made  a  fount  of  Arabic  type  of  a 
size  a  little  larger  than  that  which  we  had  before;  a 
large  quantity  of  Ndgari,  on  which,  before  I  left  the 
place,  we  had  printed  nearly  half  of  a  new  Hindi 
translation  of  the  Bible,  chiefly  made  by  Mr.  Owen  of 
our  Mission,  and  the  printing  of  which  was  left  for 
Mr.  Hay  to  complete;  a  larger  size  of  the  same  letter 
6* 


66  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

for  head-lines,  &c.;  a  fount  of  Hebrew,  for  a  work  on 
Scripture  proper  names,  intended  to  aid  translators 
in  securing  uniformity  of  spelling;  and  many  other 
things.  Two  young  men,  who  had  been  in  the  Asy- 
lum, were  taught  to  cast,  and  employed  in  this  work 
after  they  were  married.  The  Hindfi  man,  whom  we 
procured  from  Calcutta,  would  not  teach  these  boys 
to  cut  punches.  He  used  to  make  a  great  mystery 
of  this  part  of  his  business,  utterly  refusing  to  be 
seen  at  his  work.  In  order  to  bring  him  to  com- 
pliance, I  hired  a  Bangali  itinerant  engraver  who  came 
along,  and  set  him  to  cutting  punches.  He  had  never 
tried  it  before,  but  soon  succeeded  very  well;  and 
under  his  instructions  Joseph,  one  of  the  above  young 
men,  went  to  work.  When  the  regular  man  saw  that 
we  should  succeed  in  getting  punches  without  his  aid, 
and  that  we  should  soon  be  able  to  part  with  him,  he 
listened  to  my  threats  of  dismissal,  and  consented  to 
teach  Joseph.  We  were  pretty  well  under  weigh,  in 
this  respect,  when  I  left  Allahabad;  and  on  passing 
it  again  in  1853  I  found  that  Mr.  Hay  had  carried  on 
my  scheme,  and  that  Joseph  had  acquired  a  good 
degree  of  skill,  and  learned  a  trade  that  makes  him  a 
most  useful  man. 

The  printing-house  gradually  grew,  the  workmen 
improved,  and  the  means  of  doing  all  that  was  desir- 
able were  constantly  accumulated,  till  my  separation 
from  it.  The  work  done  at  it  was  superior  to  that  of 
other  presses  above  Calcutta,  until  other  establish- 
ments were  induced  to  adopt  improvements.  The 
press  gathered  about  itself  a  congregation  of  more 
than  forty  native  Christians,  some  of  them  converts, 
and  some  from  orphan  asylums.  Constant  efforts 
were  made  to  work  in  all  the  Christians  who  could 
be  procured,  that  were  at  all  fit  for  the  employments 
offered,  in  place  of  the  heathen  and  Musaltndns,  who 
were  necessarily  employed  at  first.  It  afforded 
facilities  for  employing  inquirers.  But  its  direct 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  67 

usefulness,  in  furnishing  tracts  and  Scriptures  for 
distribution  throughout  the  country,  is  what  is  mainly 
to  be  looked  at.  It  has  printed  works  for  this  pur- 
pose to  the  average  amount  of  fully  three  millions  of 
duodecimo  pages  annually.  A  large  portion  of  this 
work  has  been  of  the  nature  of  tracts  to  set  forth 
Christian  truth,  or  to  show  the  untruth  of  heathenism. 
We  published  several  editions  of  each  of  the  single 
Gospels,  of  the  four  Gospels  and  Acts  bound  together, 
of  Luke  and  Acts,  of  some  of  the  epistles,  of  the 
Psalms,  Proverbs,  and  of  Genesis  and  first  twenty 
chapters  of  Exodus.  For  a  more  particular  account 
of  our  labours  in  preparing  and  publishing  works  of 
various  kinds,  see  the  seventh  chapter.  These  tracts 
and  books  are  scattered  amongst  all  missions,  whether 
of  our  own  Board  or  of  other  societies,  from  Dinapore 
and  Tirhoot  to  the  Panjab.  They  have  been  distri- 
buted in  journeys,  at  fairs,  and  at  the  mission  sta- 
tions, till  they  have  been  carried  all  over  Upper 
India,  and  the  effect  of  them  has  been  felt  in  some  of 
the  most  secluded  villages  in  the  remotest  corners  of 
the  land. 

The  press  has  also  caused  the  writing  of  books  by 
affording  facilities  for  publication.  It  is  with  the 
surest  conviction  of  its  truth  that  I  say,  that 
many  of  our  most  valuable  treatises  would  not  have 
been  written  or  translated,  had  not  this  press  been  in 
existence.  When  we  come  to  the  chapter  on  preach- 
ing, it  will  be  seen  that  the  missionaries  have  much 
time  when  the  climate  does  not  allow  them  to  be  out 
of  doors,  even  if  they  had  strength  enough  to  be 
engaged  in  preaching  all  day;  and  that  the  nature  of 
a  great  deal  of  our  preaching  is  such  that  it  affords  us 
leisure  for  the  composition  or  translation  of  books. 
Therefore  any  instrumentality  that  brings  this  part 
of  their  time  into  profitable  use  is  most  valuable. 
This  the  mission  press  did  to  a  great  extent. 

We  had  at  Allahabad  an  orphan   asylum,  which 


68  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

has  already  been  incidentally  mentioned.  It  was 
formed  at  first  principally  from  children,  whose 
parents  perished  in  the  great  famine  of  1837 — 8. 
This  famine  prevailed  over  the  region  on  both  sides 
of  the  Jumna  river,  from  above  Allahabad  to  the 
region  of  Delhi,  causing  a  terrible  destruction  of 
life.  The  Government  and  private  individuals  did  all 
that  was  possible  to  alleviate  its  horrors;  and, 
amongst  other  benevolent  efforts,  much  was  done  to 
collect  and  feed  children  whose  parents  had  died  or 
deserted  them.  Many  of  these  children  were  after- 
wards reclaimed  by  relatives;  and  hundreds  more 
were  handed  over  to  various  orphan  asylums,  that 
were  formed  in  connection  with  various  missions.  A 
large  asylum  was  formed  for  girls  at  Cawnpore,  under 
the  Mission  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  foreign  parts.  A  large  one  for  boys  was 
formed  under  the  Church  Mission  at  Benares.  Our 
own,  for  both  boys  and  girls,  were  formed  at  Futteh- 
gurh  and  Allahabad.  There  was  another  large  asylum 
for  both  sexes  at  Agra;  beside  some  minor  ones  at 
different  places.  Had  it  been  possible  to  preserve 
the  lives  of  even  half  of  these  unfortunate  children 
after  receiving  them  into  the  asylums,  it  would  have 
caused  us  to  have  now  much  larger  nominal  Christian 
communities;  but  they  came  so  debilitated  and  dis- 
eased that  the  greater  part  died,  although  attended 
to  most  kindly  and  assiduously.  It  was  a  most 
melancholy  spectacle.  The  greater  part  of  some 
parties  of  them  died  in  a  very  short  time,  and  of  the 
remainder  the  majority  did  not  survive  to  reach 
mature  age.  The  number  of  people  that  died  of  star- 
vation and  famine-fever  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
scarcity,  great  as  it  was,  probably  did  not  nearly 
equal  those  who  died  slowly  afterward  in  consequence 
of  disease  and  debility  contracted  then. 

The  female  part  of  the  asylum  at  Allahabad  was 
then  under   the  care  of  Mrs.  Wilson ;  and  after  our 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  69 

arrival  Mr.  Morrison  made  over  the  boys  to  Mr.  Free- 
man. The  boys  were  all  being  taught  the  elements 
of  a  plain  education  in  their  own  language ;  and  it 
was  intended  to  bring  up  the  promising  ones  for 
teachers.  Some  of  the  boys  were  dullr  and  not 
capable  of  being  easily  fitted  for  any  literary  employ- 
ment ;  and  it  was  highly  desirable  that  they  should 
be  taught  some  manual  occupation,  by  which  to  sup- 
port themselves.  At  the  same  time  many  of  them 
were  so  young,  that,  to  have  taken  them  at  once  to 
the  press,  would  have  made  it  necessary  to  set  up 
Bomething  like  another  orphan  asylum  for  them  there. 
For  these  reasons  it  was  thought  best  to  have  the 
book-binders  work  under  Mr.  Freeman's  charge,  and 
the  boys  do  all  the  folding  and  sewing.  This  plan 
was  adhered  to  till  nearly  all  the  boys,  who  were  em- 
ployed in  this  part  of  the  work,  were  married  and 
left  the  asylum,  and  Mr.  Freeman  himself  left  the 
country  to  visit  America,  when  the  bindery  was 
removed  to  the  press.  We  had  sometimes  one,  and 
sometimes  another  native  as  head  binder;  but  no  one 
was  satisfactory.  They  work,  as  I  have  already  said 
carpenters  do,  always  sitting  on  the  ground ;  and  all 
their  processes  are  most  clumsy  and  slow.  The 
results,  also,  are  far  from  satisfactory.  We  made  up 
apparatus  like  that  used  in  Europe  and  America,  and 
strove  manfully  against  their  prejudices  and  habits. 
Yet  the  vis  inertiae  of  such  workmen  is  such  as 
people  in  America  cannot  conceive  of.  They  never 
attempted  an  improvement  that  was  suggested  to 
them  till  they  were  forced  to  it;  and  never  were 
forced  to  anything  of  this  kind-without  spoiling  more 
or  less  work  or  material.  Their  wages  were  not 
great.  We  paid  the  best  Hindu  binder  we  ever  had 
only  seven  dollars  a  month;  but  the  work  they 
turned  out  was  dearer  than  that  done  in  New  York 
by  men  who  made  two  dollars  a  day.  Had  it  been 
practicable,  it  would  have  been  cheaper  to  send  our 


70  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

binding  to  New  York  to  be  done.  This  part  of  our 
establishment  I  could  not  bring  into  a  satisfactory 
condition ;  but  I  left  it  to  Mr.  Hay  with  a  Christian 
foreman,  and  several  Christian  workmen,  who  were 
improving. 

Amongst  the  last  things  that  were  done  under  my 
superintendence  of  the  printing  establishment  was 
the  building  of  a  new  house  for  it.  The  perishable 
character  of  the  original  structure  has  been  spoken 
of  before.  The  new  one  is  built  in  the  same  substan- 
tial manner  with  the  depository  before  spoken  of. 
It  has  a  large  press-room,  with  a  store-room  for  paper 
attached  to  it;  a  larger  room  for  compositors;  and 
a  fine  bindery.  There  is  also  a  small  room  for  an 
office  for  proof-readers,  and  many  other  conveniences. 
The  foundry  is  in  a  room  in  a  corner  tower,  so  isolated 
by  thick  walls  that  danger  from  fire  is  avoided.  This 
was  built  without  exceeding  the  allowances  for  the 
press;  knd  we,  were  enabled  to  do. so  by  taking  in  job- 
work. 

The  practice  of  doing  job-work  was  necessary  for 
another  reason.  Having  to  keep  men  for  printing 
several  different  characters,  our  allowances  would  not 
keep  us  at  work  all  the  time,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
have  other  work  to  employ  the  people  a  part  of  the 
time;  because  they  must  be  paid  regularly,  or  they 
could  not  be  retained.  It  is  true  that  this  arrange- 
ment causes  the  superintendent  a  great  deal  of  merely 
secular  work.  Very  little  help  could  be  obtained 
from  the  people  on  the  establishment  as  to  proof- 
reading, except  in  the  native  dialects — and  even  in 
these  their  want  of  accuracy  was  often  visible.  Their 
education  in  English  was  so  defective  that  they  could 
never  be  trusted  for  a  single  word.  The  compositors 
would  read  manuscript,  if  quite  plain ;  but  if  not  so, 
they  would  put  together  whatever  they  thought  the 
letters  looked  like,  often  making  the  most  impossible 
combinations  of  letters,  both  amusing  and  provoking, 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  71 

•which  they  did  not  suspect  to  be  other  than  good 
English  words.  Mrs.  Warren  was  my  assistant  in 
proof-reading ;  and  I  should  often  have  been  over- 
whelmed with  business  had  it  not  been  for  her  help. 
It  often  happened  to  me,  that  correspondence  on 
business,  the  superintendence  and  proof-reading  of 
job-work,  and  business  connected  with  the  treasurer- 
ship  of  the  mission,  took  up  two-thirds  of  my  time. 
For  this  reason  there  ought  to  be  a  lay  superintend- 
ent of  the  printing  establishment,  if  the  proper  per- 
son could  be  procured.  He  might  have  charge  of  the 
secular  business  of  the  mission  generally,  and  be 
immensely  useful.  But,  though  the  press  did  hinder 
other  things  that  might  have  been  done,  I  neither 
repent  nor  regret  my  connection  with  it;  it  has  been 
so  useful  an  agent  in  our  work  that  it  would  be  wrong 
to  be  sorry  for  having  been  employed  in  it.  Had  I 
not  had  charge  of  it,  probably  I  might  had  more  to  do 
with  Sanscrit  and  philosophy,  and  been  more  useful 
than  I  have  been  in  some  of  the  higher  branches  of 
missionary  labour,  that  would  both  have  been  more 
pleasant,  and  more  esteemed  by  the  public.  But  such 
a  sacrifice,  if  such  there  has  been,  ought  to  be  lightly 
regarded.  He  who  has  been  furnished  with  a  useful 
field  of  labour  by  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  and 
allowed  to  occupy  it  so  long,  has  every  reason  to  be 
thankful. 

The  question  may  be  raised,  how  long  will  it  be 
necessary  to  carry  on  such  establishments  as  mission 
presses?  The  answer  must  be,  till  some  of  the  native 
Christians  can  take  them  off  our  hands.  They  are 
necessary  now  for  various  r.easons,  especially  as 
affording  employment  to  the  native  Christians.  But 
if  any  of  our  Christians  should  prove  to  be  such  busi- 
ness men  that  they  can  take  the  presses  over,  and 
gradually  pay  for  them,  doing  our  work  and  employ- 
ing our  people,  it  would  be  better  to  transfer  them, 
and  so  gradually  to  disconnect  the  missions  from 


72  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

secular  business.     This,  however,  may  not  be  practi- 
cable for  several  years  to  come. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CATECHISTS:    THEIR    TRAINING,    CHARACTER   AND    USEFULNESS. 

As  the  plan  of  this  work  is  not  so  much  to  give  an 
account  of  my  own  labours,  as  to  take  occasion  from 
them  to  give  information  as  to  the  working  of  our 
mission,  and  the  character  of  the  people,  the  subject 
above  named  is  brought  in,  although  I  have  had  no 
more  than  an  ordinary  share  in  this  part  of  our 
work. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  take  much  pains  to  explain  at 
length  the  importance  of  having  native  helpers  in  a 
mission,  because  this  is  generally  pretty  well  under- 
stood. It  is  easy  to  perceive  how  they  may  be  made 
most  efficient  agents  amongst  the  people  of  their  own 
countries;  and  how  important  their  office  is  as  a  step 
towards  a  native  ministry.  Our  mission  at  Allaha- 
bad made  early  efforts  to  secure  the  services  of  such 
helpers.  Our  choice,  however,  was  confined  to  few 
men,  and  it  was  hard  to  find  native  Christians  who 
were  well  educated,  fluent,  and  of  satisfactory  char- 
acter. Although  we  have  helpers  there,  who  are 
such  indeed,  and  a  comfort  and  joy  to  us,  yet  some  of 
our  main  trials  were  connected  with  the  training  and 
employment  of  this  class  of  men.  And  as  this  book 
is  written  to  gratify  the  reasonable  curiosity  of  the 
Church,  and  to  lead  her  members  to  sympathize  with, 
and  pray  for,  their  agents  in  foreign  lands,  it  will  be 
the  object  of  this  chapter  to  show  what  a  catechist  is 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  73 

intended  to  be  and  to  do,  and  what  are  some  of  our 
experiences  connected  with  them. 

Generally  each  mission,  and  frequently  each  mis- 
sionary, trains  his  catechists  as  he  may  be  able,  with- 
out following  any  plan  laid  down  by  the  whole  body; 
in  fact,  each  does  the  best  he  can,  according  to  his 
circumstances.  In  the  beginning  this  was  the  way  in 
which  we  were  obliged  to  go  on.  Every  missionary 
needed  somebody  to  aid  him  in  reading  in  the  streets, 
and  in  the  work  of  distributing  tracts.  In  the  hot 
and  dusty  towns  and  villages  of  India  very  few  men 
can  speak  in  the  open  air,  in  the  midst  of  various 
noises,  more  than  half  an  hour  at  a  time — few  even  so 
long.  Yet  it  is  often  desirable  to  hold  a  crowd  of 
people  longer.  In  this  way  it  becomes  necessary  to 
have  a  native  reader,  who  can  read  aloud  the  tract  or 
portion  of  Scripture  that  is  to  be  talked  of,  and  can 
also  speak  under  the  care  of  the  missionary.  And 
when  the  talk  is  over,  and  tracts  are  offered  to  those 
who  can  read,  he  can  afford  great  assistance  in  ex- 
amining applicants.  For  these  purposes  men  were  so 
necessary  that  many  missionaries  were  compelled  to 
accept  the  services  of  those  who  would  have  been 
deemed  unfit  for  such  an  employment  where  a  greater 
field  of  choice  existed.  In  this  way  it  happened  that 
all  degrees  of  catechists  were  employed:  boys  from 
school,  who  were  only  allowed  to  read  to  the  people; 
some,  a  little  more  advanced,  who  could  parrot  a  few 
trains  of  Christian  argument  and  exhortation,  which 
they  had  been  taught;  and  some,  who  had  an  educa- 
tion, and  could  talk  and  argue,  from  the  stores  of 
their  own  minds,  with  more  or  less  ability. 

Our  missionaries  felt  this  state  of  things  to  be 
undesirable;  and  at  the  meeting  of  our  Synod  at 
Agra,  in  1848,  on  the  second  day  of  the  session  it  was 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  be  appointed  to  report  a  scheme 
for  regulating  the  qualifications  and  lioensure  of  catechists; 
and  that  Messrs.  Warreii  and  Janvier  be  the  said  Committee. 

7 


74  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

At  a  subsequent  session  this  Committee  reported 
a  scheme,  a  part  of  which  is  as  follows : 

The  Committee  appointed  to  report  a  scheme  for  regulating 
the  qualifications  and  licensure  of  catechists,  reported.  The 
report  was  accepted,  and  with  a  few  amendments  was  adopted, 
and  is  as  follows : 

1.  That  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee  a  greater  degree 
of    uniformity  in    the   qualifications  of  catechists   is    highly 
desirable;  and  as  we   suppose,  a  feeling  of  this   kind  exten- 
sively prevails,  and  on  it  the  action  is  grounded,  which  has 
brought  the  subject  before  Synod  : 

2.  Your  Committee  would  therefore  recommend  that  the  fol- 
lowing attainments  in  learning  be  required  of  those  who  shall 
hereafter  seek  the  office  of  catechist : 

(1.)  The  ability  to  compose  with  facility  and  general  cor- 
rectness in  one  of  the  native  languages  or  dialects — that  is,  the 
Urdu,  Hindi,  or  Panjabi,  writing  it  in  the  native  character. 

(2.)  A  full  understanding  of,  and  capability  of  using,  the 
Romanizing  system  now  prevalent  in  our  missions. 

(3.)  The  knowledge  of  an  outline  of  Scripture  History. 

(4.)  The  difference  between  the  Mosaic  and  Christian  dis- 
pensations. 


(5. 
(6. 
(7. 


The  knowledge  of  an  outline  of  Church  History. 

The  same  of  Didactic  Theology. 

The  same  of  General  History,  Ancient  and  Modern. 


The  same  of  the  principles  of  Interpretation. 
(9.)  And  that  the  Presbytery  should  strongly  recommend 
to  every  candidate  the  acquisition  of  the  Persian  or  Sanscrit 
language. 

The  scheme  thus  adopted  by  the  Synod  also  pro- 
vided for  the  oversight  of  candidates,  their  examina- 
tion, and  their  licensure  by  Presbytery.  This  was 
a  very  fair  beginning;  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the 
same  causes  that  kept  catechists  from  being  properly 
trained  and  tried  before,  still  operate  to  some  extent; 
and  that  the  Presbyteries  have  not  yet  been  brought 
to  take  this  matter  up  with  that  perseverance  which 
alone  can  bring  about  a  proper  state  of  things.  One 
reason  of  this  is,  that  our  Synod  has  failed  to  meet 
according  to  its  adjournment.  Distance,  expense, 
and  the  inconvenience  of  leaving  our  stations,  when 
there  are  so  few  to  carry  on  so  many  ordinary  opera- 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  75 

tions,  are  the  usual  reasons  given  for  not  having  a 
meeting  of  Synod;  and  at  particular  times  there  may 
be  private  reasons,  affecting  individuals,  equally 
operative.  But  notwithstanding  these  reasons  the 
Synod  ought  to  have  met,  and  seen  that  the  scheme 
as  to  catechists,  was  carried  out  as  well  as  some 
other  things  that  required  attention.  It  is  no  discre- 
dit to  us  as  individuals  to  say,  that  we  needed  the 
influence  of  Synodical  control.  Present  convenience 
is  always  operating  to  make  us  postpone  and  modify 
some  things;  and  men  will  not  act  in  accordance  with 
a  system,  without  control,  as  steadily  as  they  would 
under  its  influence.  If  they  would  so  act,  then 
Synods  could  be  everywhere  dispensed  with.  If  it 
were  determined  that  Synods  should  meet,  and  each 
Presbytery  were  instructed  to  arrange  matters  so  that 
some  of  its  members  should  attend,  and  unite  this 
object  with  a  preaching  tour,  all  that  is  necessary 
might  easily  be  done.  The  home  duties  of  absentees 
could  be  temporarily  discharged  by  their  brethren, 
and  a  part  of  our  office  (that  of  Evangelists)  might 
be  in  more  active  use. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  something  has  been 
done  towards  carrying  out  this  scheme;  and  the 
catechists,  no  doubt,  will  improve  year  by  year.  If 
some  central  institution  could  be  established,  in  which 
all  the  candidates  for  this  office  could  be  gathered, 
and  taught  together,  according  to  a  scheme  approved 
by  the  Synod,  the  much  desired  object  of  a  higher 
and  more  uniform  education  would  be  secured.  If  at 
Agra,  which  is  nearly  central  to  our  stations,  there 
were  always  three  or  four  picked  men  fixed,  they 
could  take  charge  of  this  institution  in  addition  to 
their  other  duties.  This  would  be  the  completion  of 
the  general  scheme,  of  which  our  high-schools  at 
Agra  are  a  part.  There  might  be  two  departments 
iu  the  school — one  for  candidates  for  the  ministry, 
and  oue  for  inure  catechists.  It  is  probable  that 


76  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

the  high-school  at  Agra  may  produce  some  candi- 
dates for  the  higher  department,  as  well  as  the  native 
churches.  The  catechists  would  be  much  more  likely 
to  be  regularly  taught  in  such  an  institution,  than 
they  are  at  present,  and  could  be  practised,  as  they 
are  now,  in  labouring  with  the  missionaries.  This 
would  save  a  great  deal  of  labour.  Many  missionaries 
are  now  employed  in  giving  desultory  and  perfunctory 
instructions.  The  teachers  of  a  theological  school 
could  both  relieve  them,  and  teach  more  systemati- 
cally. At  present,  also,  every  man  uses  such  books 
as  he  can  procure,  and  of  proper  ones  there  is  a  great 
lack.  While  we  have  no  central  institution,  indi- 
viduals will  have  different  opinions  about  what  books 
should  be  prepared;  and  without  union  nothing  will 
be  done.  But  the  central  institution  would  lead  to 
efforts  to  supply  this  lack,  which  would,  doubtless,  be 
successful,  and  give  as  much  satisfaction  to  all  as  the 
nature  of  the  case  admits. 

OQ  the  other  hand  it  may  be  said,  that  there  are 
many  reasons  for  training  catechists  at  their  several 
stations.  In  this  way  more  may  be  raised  up.  If  all 
were  to  be  at  the  expense  of  sending  their  candidates 
to  the  seminary,  and  supporting  them  there,  it  may 
be  supposed  that  fewer  would  be  taken  up.  Each 
candidate  might  also  receive  more  personal  attention, 
and  be  more  employed  in  preaching,  if.  each  were 
under  the  care  of  a  separate  station ;  though  the 
many  engagements  of  the  missionaries  would  render 
the  personal  attention  somewhat  doubtful.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  a  seminary  could  not  combine  all  its 
own  advantages  with  those  of  more  private  training  : 
a  comparison  of  the  two  modes  should  be  made;  and 
that  chosen  which  offered  the  greatest  facilities  for 
accomplishing  the  end.  And  it  would  not  be  neces- 
sary to  send  every  candidate  to  the  institution — some 
latitude  might  be  allowed  to  the  Presbyteries  in  this 
respect. 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  77 

When  the  catechists,  as  a  class,  become  well  edu- 
cated and  gentlemanly  men,  and  exert  an  influence 
on  native  society,  visiting  and  being  visited  by  their 
Hind6  and  Musalman  neighbours,  we  may  expect 
them  to  be  very  useful — perhaps  as  much  so  as 
European  or  American  missionaries.  We  have  seen 
something  of  this;  many  native  gentlemen  now  visit 
them,  and  prejudice  against  them  is  wearing  away. 
At  first  they  were,  of  course,  regarded  as  renegades, 
and  often  they  have  been  called  on  to  endure  cruel 
contumely  and  scorn;  to  be  the  subject  of  wicked 
slanders  and  reproaches;  and  to  be  persecuted  to  any 
degree  that  was  in  the  power  of  men  who  had  not 
law  on  their  side.  A  catechist,  labouring  with  me, 
has  been  assailed  in  my  presence  with  charges  of 
having  forsaken  his  ancestral  faith  for  the  sake  of 
high  pay  and  sensual  allurements.  This  catechist 
was  working  for  eight  dollars  a  month,  supporting  a 
wife  and  two  children  on  his  pay,  and  living  in  such 
a  manner  that  all  his  life  and  arrangements  could  be 
easily  seen;  and  his  assailant  called  him  a  mercenary 
dog,  and  said  that  it  was  publicly  known  that  he  had 
thirty-five  dollars  a  month,  and  a  woman  in  addition 
to  his  wife.  The  man  bore  this  abuse  very  well. 
The  only  sign  of  impatience  which  he  displayed  was 
to  answer,  "You  Musalrnans  are  accustomed  to  make 
converts  by  such  means;  so  it  is  not  much  to  be  won- 
dered at  if  you  suppose  Christians  make  them  in  the 
same  manner."  His  counter  accusation  was  so  true 
that  nothing  more  could  be  said.  I  added  an  invita- 
tion to  the  slanderer  to  come  and  see  our  place,  and 
examine  into  ail  our  affairs.  Lately  the  natives  have 
slowly  come  to  perceive  that  there  may  be  such  a  thing 
as  a  native  having  a  sincere  conviction  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity ;  and  they  generally  treat  the  catechists 
with  great  consideration. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  a  catechist  is  em- 
ployed to  assist  the  missionary  to  read  and  distri- 
7* 


78  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

bute  tracts  and  Scriptures,  and  to  speak  when  he 
can.  His  duty  also  is,  when  his  qualifications  are 
above  the  lowest  order,  to  go  out  by  himself  when 
the  missionary  cannot  go.  As  I  was  employed 
about  the  press  I  could  not  go  out  every  day.  I 
very  much  wished  to  do  so;  but  other  duties  often 
made  it  impossible.  I  therefore  made  constant  efforts 
to  keep  my  native  assistant  going  without  me.  But 
this  is  very  discouraging  work  for  a  native  man. 
They  are  neither  so  successful  in  obtaining  hearers, 
nor  so  respectfully  treated  when  alone  as  when  a 
European  is  with  them.  My  first  catechist  was  not 
very  fluent,  and  of  no  very  commanding  aspect;  and 
thus  was  not  so  well  listened  to  as  to  make  his  work 
attractive.  It  was  with  some  difficulty,  for  these  rea- 
sons, that  he  could  be  induced  to  work  alone.  Still 
a  great  deal  is  done  by  the  catechists  in  this  way. 
They  may  not  be  able  to  gather  a  crowd  around 
them,  as  the  white  man  almost  always  can ;  but  they 
get  into  conversation  with  a  few.  They  may  often 
sit  down  with  some  of  the  people,  and  discuss  some 
point  of  truth.  If  they  can  do  nothing  more,  they  will 
keep  in  circulation  the  bruit  of  a  religion  offered  to 
the  people's  acceptance.  It  is  also  usually  their  duty 
to  visit  the  vernacular  schools,  and  give  the  boys 
instruction  in  the  Catechism,  and  exhort  all  who  may 
be  around,  and  aid  the  missionary  in  his  work  of  teach- 
ing religious  truths  to  these  schools,  which  he  also 
visits.  Another  of  their  duties  is  to  assist  the  mis- 
sionaries at  the  melas,  or  fairs.  Still  another  is  to 
accompany  the  missionaries  on  their  preaching  tours. 
If  he  be  a  man  of  sufficient  learning,  he  may  act  as  the 
missionary's  assistant  in  literary  matters.  Bdbti  John 
Hari  and  Munshi  Mirza  John  Bez,  catechists  at  Alla- 
habad, were  of  great  use  to  me  in  my  literary  labours. 
They  assisted  me  to  revise  a  translation  of  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  both  Catechisms  of  our  Church, 
in  Urdu.  The  translation  was  made  by  the  Rev. 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  79 

James  Wilson,  and  would  not  have  needed  much  revi- 
sion had  it  not  been  made  on  the  principle  of  a  free, 
rather  than  a  close,  rendering  of  the  original.  It  was 
determined  to  bring  it  closer  to  the  original,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  preserve  the  Urdu  idiom.  Any 
one  who  has  been  engaged  in  translation,  knows  the 
difficulty  of  such  a  work.  These  two  men  were  long 
engaged  in  it  with  me.  We  often  used  to  labour 
one,  and  sometimes  several  hours  over  a  single  sen- 
tence. Mirza,  who  is  something  of  a  poet,  used  to 
turn  my  prose  translation  of  poetry  into  Urdu  verse, 
in  such  works  as  the  Urdu  translation  of  the  Dairy- 
man's Daughter  and  the  Young  Cottager.  Hari  has 
translated  the  Indian  Pilgrim  and  Pilgrim's  Progress 
into  Urdu.  His  knowledge  of  English  is  sufficient  to 
do  so,  except  that  he  occasionally  requires  assistance 
in  a  single  sentence. 

We  have  long  felt  that  when  we  should  have  a 
sufficient  number  of  faithful  catechists,  we  ought  to 
plant  them  in  the  larger  towns  around  our  mission 
stations.  At  Allahabad  we  often  talked  of  several 
towns,  at  distances  of  ten  to  twenty  miles  from  the 
station,  at  which  it  would  be  desirable  to  place  cate- 
chists, to  act  both  as  schoolmasters  and  preachers. 
Another  part  of  the  plan  would  have  been,  to  have 
one  of  the  missionaries  frequently  visit  these  places. 
This  was  not  carried  out,  because  we  all  thought  that 
we  had  no  men,  who  could  be  spared  from  the  station, 
that  were  fitted  to  work  out  such  a  scheme.  After 
my  departure  from  that  place  it  was  tried  by  Mr. 
Owen;  but  his  agent  proved  not  to  have  the  neces- 
sary stamina  and  skill.  Some  later  attempts  of  this 
kind  have  been  made,  which  seem  to  be  more  success- 
ful; and  when  our  native  assistants  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  idea  of  personal  responsibility,  these 
attempts  will  be  still  more  successful.  We  must  take 
the  risk  of  failures,  or  keep  our  helpers  under  such 
surveillance  that  they  will  fail  to  acquire  indepen- 


80  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

dence  and  strength  of  character,  or  a  spirit  of  enter- 
prise. Without  doubt  we  must  prepare  for,  and 
execute  some  such  scheme  as  this,  if  we  would 
thoroughly  preach  the  gospel  through  our  districts. 
Missionaries  should  be  set  apart  to  the  superintend- 
ence of  such  circles  of  catechists,  and  the  means 
should  be  provided  of  travelling  amongst  them  all  the 
time  when  the  weather  permits,  and  of  making  flying 
visits  to  them  throughout  the  hot  season. 

After  these  general  remarks,  the  reader  may  like 
to  see  some  facts,  connected  with  the  catechists, 
intended  to  illustrate  our  joys  and  our  sorrows  that 
arise  from  this  source.  Some  of  our  native  helpers 
read  English.  This  fact  will  show  the  propriety  of 
my  generally  concealing  names;  though  to  do  so  will 
render  the  anecdotes  less  piquant. 

Shortly  after  my  settlement  at  Allahabad,  we 
received  a  convert  from  a  high  caste  of  Hindus.  He 
could  read  very  well;  and  after  a  short  course  of 
instruction,  was  set  at  work  under  the  care  of  the 
Rev.  J.  Wilson.  He  learned  readily,  and  spoke 
fluently;  and  I  have  seen  very  few  men  who  appeared 
more  zealous,  or  more  willing  to  work  in  the  sphere 
appointed  for  them.  At  the  great  fair  at  Allahabad, 
I  have  often  admired  the  patience  with  which  he 
bore  contradiction,  the  mildness  with  which  he 
answered  objections,  and  the  versatility  of  talent  by 
which  he  adapted  his  subjects  and  manner  to  the  ever 
varying  circumstances  around  him.  On  one  occasion, 
for  example,  he  was  holding  an  argument  with  a 
Brahman,  involving  some  points  of  their  philosophy, 
when  the  Brahman  suddenly  uttered  some  sharp  sar- 
casm, and  followed  it  with  the  cry,  "Come,  brethren, 
let  us  leave  this  infidel  to  himself.  Victory  to 
Mother  Ganga!"  He  said  this  with  a  tone  of 
authority,  and  moved  away  at  once,  thus  giving  an 
impulse  which  a  Hindu  crowd  is  very  likely  to  obey ; 
and  they  all  followed  him,  leaving  the  catechist  stand- 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  81 

ing  with  an  unfinished  argument  in  his  mouth,  and  a 
half  dozen  boys  staring  at  him.  After  only  an 
instant's  pause,  he  began,  in  most  simple  language 
and  with  winning  sweetness  of  manner,  to  say, 
"Dear  children,  if  these  grown  men  despise  the  news 
of  salvation,  which  we  bring  to  them,  do  you  listen 
to  what  Christ  says  to  such  as  you:  'Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  &c.'"  And  he  went  on 
with  the  children  till  another  crowd  of  men  were 
gathered  about  him,  when  he  changed  his  manner,  by 
saying,  "But  this  message  is  not  to  children  only; 
it  much  more  concerns  you,  who  have  not  so  long  to 
live  as  they."  And  thus  he  introduced  a  most  appro- 
priate address. 

This  man  married  a  girl  from  our  orphan  asylum, 
simply  because  she  was  the  oldest  girl  in  it.  She 
was  stupid,  and  of  a  bad  disposition ;  and  he  was  ear- 
nestly advised  to  avoid  her ;  but  he  would  have  her, 
saying  that  the  Bible  taught  us  not  to  despise  those 
of  low  degree.  In  this  matter  the  effect  of  his  educa- 
tion under  the  miserable  social  system  of  the  Hindus 
•was  very  visible;  he  had  no  notion  of  the  importance 
of  his  wife's  moral  and  intellectual  character  to  him- 
self. He  married  her,  and  it  was  not  long  till  her 
sordid  disposition  exercised  a  bad  influence  upon 
him.  He  became  depressed  and  spiritless.  Then, 
for  the  purpose  of  qualifying  himself  for  theological 
discussions  with  the  Hindus,  he  read  the  Ramdyan,  a 
mythological  poem  of  the  Hindus,  and  carried  it  too 
far;  for  he  neglected  the  Bible  for  iu  He  began  to 
Study  medicine  in  the  Hindu  and  Musalman  methods, 
fancying  that  he  should  some  time  make  his  fortune 
by  it.  We  tried  to  reason  and  laugh  him  out  of  this, 
but  to  no  purpose ;  and  it  was  not  a  matter  for  eccle- 
siastical censure.  We  at  length  noticed  a  consider- 
able flagging  of  his  zeal  and  energy ;  but  he  accounted 
for  it  by  saying  that  he  was  not  quite  well.  At  length, 
on  one  occasion,  he  displayed  a  strange  forgetfuluesa 


82  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

of  Bible  history;  and,  as  it  was  in  public,  he  was 
angry  at  having  been  found  out.  Examination  was 
made  into  his  habits  and  state  of  mind ;  and  it  was 
found  that  he  had  not  read  the  Bible  for  a  long  time, 
and  had  forgotten  many  facts  of  its  history ;  and  that 
he  had  almost  ceased  to  pray.  He  was  more  and 
more  angry  at  all  efforts  to  set  him  right. 

About  this  time  he  was  directed  to  go  out  with  Mr. 
Owen  on  a  short  preaching  tour,  and  refused,  unless 
a  horse  were  furnished  him  to  ride.  Mr.  Owen  told 
him  that  he  should  move  but  four  or  five  miles  a  day, 
and  should  himself  walk.  The  man  answered,  "You 
can  ride  when  you  please,  and  walking  may  be  a  plea- 
sure to  you ;  I  consider  riding  a  luxury,  and  will  not 
go  out  unless  you  give  me  the  means  to  ride.  Indeed, 
I  am  not  bound  to  go  at  all;  I  have  worked  here 
ten  years,  and  ought  not  to  be  expected  to  work  any 
longer.  Give  me  a  pension,  and  let  me  lie  still  the 
rest  of  my  life."  At  this  time  he  was  about  thirty 
years  old.  We  reasoned  with  him,  and  did  every- 
thing that  could  be  done;  and  everything  made 
matters  worse ;  an  evil  spirit  seemed  to  have  got  full 
possession  of  him.  At  length  we  suspended  him  from 
his  office  and  pay,  because  he  utterly  refused  to  do 
anything.  The  same  day  he  removed  to  the  city, 
and  began  to  talk  against  us.  After  about  a  month 
he  went  to  Lucknow,  and  entered  upon  a  negotiation 
to  turn  Musalman.  Not  suiting  himself  there,  he 
•wandered  nearly  all  over  North  India  seeking  employ- 
ment. After  more  than  a  year  he  came  to  us,  and 
tried  to  negotiate;  but  was  unhumbled,  and  we  could 
not  accept  him.  He  again  wandered  about,  and  in 
one  way  and  another  caused  much  scandal — more  by 
his  gross  defection  from  the  spirit  of  Christianity, 
however,  than  by  any  personal  vice.  At  length, 
after  nearly  two  years,  he  came  back,  and  made  all 
the  professions  of  penitence  that  could  be  desired. 
At  this  time  he  professed  no  more  than  he  did  on  his 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  83 

first  return;  but  his  manner  was  much  more  satisfac- 
tory— there  was  much  evidence  that  his  heart  felt  the 
confessions  which  his  tongue  uttered.  He  was  res- 
tored, and  put  at  his  work  again,  under  closer  super- 
intendence, and  on  less  wages.  He  has  since  worked 
quietly  and  steadily;  but  his  energy  and  zeal  have 
not  reappeared  to  any  great  degree.  We  hope  that 
he  is  "a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire,"  and  that  he 
will  continue  useful ;  but  our  high  expectations  of  him 
are  in  the  dust. 

This  story  compels  us  to  serious  reflection.  "What 
could  have  persuaded  this  man  to  act  in  this  mad 
manner?  Either  the  great  adversary  must  have  had 
some  special  hand  in  it,  to  hinder  our  work,  or  the 
catechist  must  have  been  insane.  But  however  it 
be,  let  us,  in  all  confidence,  even  in  the  darkest  hour, 
say,  "they  that  be  with  us  are  more  than  they  that 
be  with  them." 

In  the  third  chapter  of  this  book  mention  is  made 
of  the  fact,  that  some  Musalmans  join  us  because 
their  co-religionists  will  not  allow  them  to  drink  intoxi- 
cating liquors.  We  have  had  experience  of  this  in 
the  case  of  one  who,  for  a  time,  was  with  us,  preparing 
to  preach  the  gospel.  During  the  Afgan  war  a  clerk 
in  one  of  the  English  offices  brought  a  young  Afgan 
into  Hindustan  with  him.  The  Afgan  professed  to 
be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  out- 
wardly embraced  it.  As  often  happens,  there  was 
much  in  his  conduct  to  encourage,  mixed  with  many 
inconsistencies.  On  the  whole  we  had  good  hope  of 
him.  We  taught  and  admonished  him,  and  prayed 
with  him.  The  blemishes  in  his  character  were 
mainly  such  as  attach  themselves  to  an  aspiring 
and  noble  mind.  We  therefore  had  patience  with 
his  occasional  manifestations  of  pride,  and  with  his 
constant  desire  to  have  more  income  and  to  be  treated 
like  a  great  personage.  By  degrees  he  became  dis- 
contented with  us,  went  to  Calcutta,  and  sought  for  a 


84  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

place,  without  finding  any  person  to  patronize  him  as 
he  desired.  Shortly  after  it  became  quite  evident  that 
his  notion  of  Christianity  was,  that  it  would  allow 
him  to  take  wine  genteelly  after  dinner,  marry  some 
pretty  Englishwoman,  and  sink  the  Asiatic  in  a  poor 
imitation  of  the  Englishman.  He  got  some  patronage, 
until  his  character  had  become  so  much  known  that  he 
lost  the  confidence  of  all  Christians.  He  became  Per- 
sian interpreter  to  a  German  prince,  who  was  travelling 
in  India ;  was  dismissed  from  his  service  for  drunk- 
enness and  defalcation;  and  afterwards  I  heard  of 
his  death  as  a  drunkard.  We  must,  I  suppose,  look 
on  his  case  as  one  of  unmitigated  hypocrisy.  We 
were  certainly  not  to  be  blamed  for  receiving  his  pro- 
fession of  Christianity ;  and  we  did  our  best  to  retain 
him  with  us.  We  never  perceived  that  there  was  any 
duty  which  we  had  neglected  to  perform  towards  him, 
and  had  nothing  to  reproach  ourselves  with  in  the 
matter ;  but  it  was  a  sad  trial  to  see  him  ruined. 

Let  us  turn  to  something  more  pleasant.  A  few 
years  ago  I  wrote  for  the  New  Orleans.  Presbyterian 
an  account  of  one  of  our  catechists,  a  part  of  which 
shall  be  inserted  here,  without  further  comments. 

"My  friend  is  something  more  than  forty  years  of 
age;  though  he  has  no  means  of  telling  his  age  with 
exactness.  The  date  of  his  baptism  is  known;  but 
the  age  at  which  he  was  baptized  is  not  known.  This 
may  sound  very  strange  to  people  in  America;  but 
the  fact  is,  that  very  few  of  the  natives  of  this  coun- 
try take  any  pains  to  remember  the  ages  of  their 
children.  I  have  repeatedly  known  mothers  to  be 
unable  to  tell  whether  their  infant  children  were  six, 
or  eight,  or  nine  months  old;  and  if  they  forget  so 
soon,  how  wide  may  not  their  guesses  be  from  the 
truth  after  the  lapse  of  years.  A  very  respectable 
man,  as  to  station,  and  education  too,  has  told  me 
that  he  was  about  so  high  (holding  his  hand  up  to  indi- 
cate how  high,)  at  the  time  of  the  first  siege  of  Bhurt- 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  85 

pore;  he  knew,  because  his  father  was  in  the  army 
then;  but- he  could  not  remember,  within  five  years, 
how  long  ago  that  siege  took  place ;  and  this  was 
all  he  knew  about  his  age.  Some  families  keep 
in  the  house  a  string  for  each  child,  tying  a  knot  in 
it  at  every  recurrence  of  his  birth-day ;  sometimes 
they  become  neglectful ;  sometimes  the  white  ants  eat 
up  the  strings;  and  sometimes  a  knot  gets  tied  in 
the  wrong  string,  and  inextricable  confusion  super- 
venes, and  so  the  account  is  lost.  Poor  Robinson 
Crusoe  made  a  mistake  in  his  notches,  and  could 
never  ascertain  his  Sabbaths  with  certainty,  and  how 
much  less  can  ages  be  kept  in  mind  by  a  custom  so 
very  liable  to  interruption  !  The  salgirah  (annual 
knot)  is  rarely  tied  after  the  mother's  death. 

"  The  parents  of  Hari  were  originally  Mohamme- 
dans, from  the  North-west  of  Hindustan.  Being  in 
Dinapore  at  the  time  that  'man  of  God,'  Henry 
Martyn,  was  chaplain  there,  they  made  a  profession 
of  Christianity,  and  were  baptized  by  him.  Here  I 
will  not  lose  the  occasion  to  make  a  remark,  to  me 
exceedingly  interesting.  H.  has  often  told  me  that 
from  all  he  can  remember  of  his  parents,  they  were 
probably  nothing  more  than  mere  nominal  Christians; 
or  at  least  but  very  weak  and  imperfect  ones,  making 
no  impression  for  good  upon  his  heart,  either  by  their 
instructions  or  example.  But  they  sent  him  to  a 
Christian  school,  taught  him  to  go  to  church,  and  thus 
at  least  served  to  introduce  him  into  the  ways  of 
Christianity.  The  character  of  native  converts  is 
often  very  unsatisfactory;  but  here  we  have  an  example 
of  great  improvement  in  the  second  generation.  The 
church  ought  to  be  encouraged  by  this. 

"For  several  years  Hari  attended  the  school  at 
Dinapore,  till  his  parents  both  died,  and  he  was  left 
absolutely  alone  in  the  world.  He  had  learned  a 
catechism,  the  commandments,  creed,  &c.,  but  remem- 
bers no  religious  impressions  at  that  time. 
8 


86  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

"Being  now  a  young  man,  with  some  knowledge  of 
English,  he  went  to  Calcutta  to  find  employment.  In 
this  he  was  not  successful.  But  he  formed  an 
acqaintaince  with  a  Mohammedan  teacher,  who 
allowed  him  to  hang  about  his  house,  and  to  learn 
Persian  in  his  school  in  every  way  he  could,  and  thus 
gained  his  favour  so  far  that  he  supported  him  about 
three  years,  during  which  time  he  acquired  a  good 
knowledge  of  the  Persian  classics.  His  teacher  often 
sought  to  induce  him  to  turn  Mohammedan,  but  the 
grace  of  God  enabled  him  to  resist  the  temptation. 
His  worldy  interest  would,  apparently,  have  been 
greatly  promoted  by  doing  so  at  this  time;  and  he 
rather  wonders  now  why  he  did  not;  but  he  attributes 
his  preservation,  as  he  ought  to  do,  to  the  preventing 
grace  of  God,  though  he  was  not  at  the  time  con- 
scious of  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  at  all,  and  felt  no 
concern  about  his  soul — supposing,  indeed,  that  he 
was  as  good  a  Christian  as  any. 

"After  leaving  his  Mohammedan  teacher  he  obtain- 
ed a  place  in  the  office  of  the  Adjutant  of  an  Infantry 
Regiment,  and  then  became  an  accountant  of  the 
officers'  mess  in  another  regiment.  After  he  had  left 
this  employment,  on  account  of  some  disagreement 
with  the  officers,  he  lived  at  Benares,  where  he  had  left 
the  regiment,  "from  hand  to  mouth,"  writing  English 
letters  for  natives,  assisting  them  to  keep  their 
accounts  with  Englishmen,  teaching  a  native  gentle- 
man's sons  English,  and  the  like.  During  this  period, 
of  several  years,  he  hardly  ever  attended  church,  and 
did  not  know  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christianity 
at  all — at  least  did  not  understand  nor  feel  them. 

"At  length  a  native  catechist,  belonging  to  the 
mission  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  found 
him  out,  and  took  him  to  the  Hindustani  chapel. 
There  he  was  engaged  by  the  mission  as  a  teacher  of 
Hindustani,  and  received  instruction  as  to  religion. 
He  remained  in  the  service  of  that  mission,  in 
various  capacities,  till  about  three  years  ago.  The 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  87 

truth  seems  to  have  affected  him  gradually.  From 
his  own  account  it  seems  that  his  self-righteousness 
left  him  by  degrees,  and  he  was  brought  to  see  his 
sinfulness  and  misery;  but  at  the  same  time,  the 
remedy  was  applied,  and  he  was  brought  to  accept  of 
Christ  in  a  way  altogether  different  from  his  former 
mere  wearing  of  his  name." 

After  stating  the  way  in  which  he  came  into  con- 
nection with  our  mission,  and  that  he  was  under  trial 
for  licensure,  having  studied  Hebrew  with  me,  the 
following  is  added: 

"Hari's  character  is  distinguished  by  gravity,  earn- 
estness, hope,  simplicity,  a  want  of  confidence  in 
himself,  a  shrinking  from  contact  with  evil,  either  in 
things  or  persons,  which  would  anywhere  highly  dis- 
tinguish a  Christian  man;  and  here,  among  the  pol- 
luted, cunning,  selfish,  hypocritical,  and  dishonest 
people  of  this  country,  this  character  shines  with  dis- 
tinguished light.  His  mind  is  of  such  a  character 
that  he  can  more  fully  use  a  limited  education  than 
any  other  man  I  ever  saw.  His  strong  common 
sense  secures  him  from  all  pedantry,  and  from  the 
mistakes  into  which  another  might  easily  fall.  I 
trust  him  with  the  entire  management  of  my  Bible 
class.  He  is  the  peace  maker,  the  arbitrator,  the 
father  of  all  my  establishment.  He  is  my  'cabinet 
council,'  and  prime  minister." 

Another  of  our  catechists  has  a  singular  history. 
He  is  the  son  of  an  Englishman,  formerly  a  civil 
officer  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  a  Musalmdn 
woman.  He  was  brought  up  a  Musalru&n  by  his 
mother  and  her  friends,  till  he  was  a  young  man,  and 
educated  in  the  Persian  language  and  literature, 
receiving  such  instruction  in  science  and  philosophy 
as  the  Indian  Mohammedans  have  current  amongst 
them.  His  father  was  dead;  but  still  his  slight 
remembrance  of  him,  and  a  prepossession  in  favour 
of  the  English,  caused  him  to  be  discontented  with 


88  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

his  standing  as  a  mere  native;  and  he  went  to 
Benares,  to  see  if  he  could  not  gain  some  advantage 
by  joining  himself  to  the  English.  An  Episcopal 
missionary  found  him,  trained  him,  and  finally  bap- 
tized him.  He  afterward  served  another  mission  as 
a  catechist  for  several  years;  and  finally  joined  us, 
accompanied  by  his  mother,  of  whose  conversion  he 
had  been  the  means,  and  who  since  has  died  in  our 
communion. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  dignified,  polished,  and 
gentlemanly  men  of  my  acquaintance.  He  has  the 
good  taste  to  wear  the  graceful  costume  of  the  East, 
and  to  continue  in  the  use  of  the  oriental  manners, 
in  which  he  was  brought  up.  His  language  is  most 
polished  Urdu,  and  his  eloquence  as  a  speaker  is 
seldom  surpassed.  I  have  known  a  crowd  of  Hindus 
so  carried  away  by  his  eloquence,  when  showing  them 
the  excellencies  of  God  in  Christ,  compared  with 
their  deities,  that  at  the  close  they  shouted  glory  to 
God.  He  is  most  useful  in  cultivating  the  acquaint- 
ance of  native  gentlemen,  carrying  on  discussions 
with  them,  and  exerting  a  good  social  influence. 

Once  an  old  man,  named  Hari  Das,  came  to  me  in 
search  of  employment,  and  told  me  the  following 
extraordinary  story,  of  the  truth  of  which  I  after- 
ward satisfied  myself  by  such  inquiries  as  I  could 
make.  I  relate  it  here,  because  it  brings  out  a  good 
many  points  of  native  character,  as  well  as  some  of 
the  dogmas  and  practices  of  the  popular  religion ; 
and,  whether  true  or  not  in  all  its  parts,  the  story  is 
just  as  good  for  this  purpose:  it  might  happen 
amongst  the  Hindus  at  any  time. 

He  said  that  while  quite  a  young  man  he  became 
entirely  dissatisfied  with  the  ordinary  practices  of 
Hinduism:  none  of  them  satisfied  his  conscience,  or 
seemed  likely  to  secure  him  a  righteousness',  on  which 
he  could  depend.  This  is  so  common  a  thing  that  we 
often  refer  to  it  in  preaching  to  the  Hindus,  showing 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  89 

them  that  they  are  always  ready  to  do  some  new 
thing,  because  they  have  never  found  an  object  on 
which  their  hearts  can  rest.  Harf  resorted  to  all  the 
ordinary  forms  of  worship,  and  practised  them  zeal- 
ously and  abundantly;  but  they  did  him  no  good. 
He  then  performed  all  the  ordinary  pilgrimages.  It 
was  interesting  to  hear  him  describe  what  advantages 
he  was  led  to  expect  from  each,  and  how  he  was 
utterly  disappointed  by  all  of  them  in  succession. 
Then,  on  the  advice  of  his  spiritual  guides,  he 
renounced  the  wife  to  whom  he  was  betrothed,  and 
became  a  jogi — a  kind  of  religious  beggar — and  gave 
up  all  hopes  as  to  the  world.  He  had  been  told  that 
he  should  find  peace  in  doing  so;  but  found  none. 
When  he  had  been  several  years  engaged  in  this  way, 
he  arrived  at  a  station  where  there  were  English 
officers  residing — a  kind  of  country  town.  Here  he 
met  a  Brdhman,  to  whom  he  unfolded  his  tale  of 
sorrows.  The  Brahman  told  him  that  he  had  a 
Thakur  [Lord,]  who  could  do  every  thing  for  a 
worshipper  in  the  way  of  spiritual  enlightenment  and 
help;  that  this  Thakur  was  in  a  temple  near  the 
native  town ;  that  the  worshipper  must  give  a  certain 
fee  to  the  Brahman,  feed  some  faquirs  who  lived  at 
the  temple,  offer  certain  flowers,  fruits,  &c.,  to  the 
idol;  fast  and  watch  in  the  temple;  bathe,  pray,  &c.; 
and  then  the  idol  would  speak  to  him,  and  reveal  the 
secret  of  obtaining  righteousness  and  rest. 

Hari  Dds  went  through  all  the  ceremonies;  and,  to 
make  all  sure,  hired  the  Bn'ihman  by  an  extra  fee 
personally  to  attend  him,  to  secure  him  from  making 
any  error  in  his  performances.  All  were  completed 
the  third  day  in  the  morning;  and  the  Brdhman  told 
him  to  sit  still  and  watch  the  idol  till  noon,  and  Tha- 
kur ji  would  answer  him  by  that  time.  But  noon 
passed  without  bringing  any  answer,  and  Hari  went 
to  the  Brdhman  and  complained.  The  Brdhman  said 
that  since  the  Thakur  had  not  been  pleased  to  attend 
8* 


90  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

to  him  for  his  sacrifices  and  his  prayers,  nothing  now 
remained  but  to  abuse  and  scold  him  till  he  would 
answer.  So  the  poor  devotee  sat  down  to  this  addi- 
tional task.  He  called  the  Thakur  all  manner  of  bad 
names,  as  he  had  been  instructed  to  do;  he  accused 
him  of  being  a  cheat,  taunted  him  with  want  of  power, 
and  threatened  him  severely.  All  this  did  no  good. 

At  last  Hari  Das  worked  himself  up  to  a  real  pas- 
sion, through  his  indulgence  in  abusive  language.  He 
then  said  to  the  idol,  "I  begin  to  believe  that  you  are 
no  Thakur  at  all,  but  only  an  empty,  ugly  stone. 
There  you  sit,  looking  always  the  same.  I  make  you 
offerings,  and  you  cannot  look  pleased.  I  pray,  and 
see  no  signs  of  your  hearing.  I  curse  you,  and  give 
you  dirty  abuse,  that  would  make  a  gentleman  crazy. 
I  blacken  the  faces  of  your  mother  and  sister  in  a  way 
that  would  stir  up  a  dead  man ;  and  there  you  sit 
with  that  eternal  grin  on  your  face,  that  makes  you 
look  like  a  monkey.  If  you  do  not  answer  at  once,  I 
will  break  your  face  with  this  stone.  Do  good,  or  do 
evil,  and  that  immediately,  or  I  will  prove  myself  the 
better  Thakur."  And  when  the  idol  still  did  not  stir, 
Hari  in  a  rage  threw  a  large  piece  of  stone  at  him, 
and  broke  him  into  many  pieces.  His  devotions,  and- 
especially  his  curses,  had  brought  a  large  crowd  of 
Hindus  around  the  temple,  who  were  looking  on  with 
much  curiosity.  Now  they  rushed  on  him  with  horror 
and  rage.  They  did  not  care  for  his  reproaching  the 
idol :  this  they  all  do.  But  to  offer  violence  to  a  god 
— that  they  did  not  expect,  and  could  not  bear.  He 
would  soon  have  been  torn  to  pieces  by  the.m  had 
there  not  been  a  station  of  Musalmaji  police  officers 
at  hand.  They  rescued  him ;  but  could  not  preserve 
him  from  the  Hindu  mob  otherwise  than  by  carrying 
him  at  once  to  the  magistrate,  who  was  an  English 
gentleman.  Into  his  office  the  mob  rushed  pell-mell, 
pushing  on  Hari  with  the  police  officers,  shouting 
Murder!  murder!  help!  help!  The  Brahman  also 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  91 

presented  himself  with  a  basket,  containing  the  broken 
idol,  and  charged  Hari  Das  with  the  murder  of  his 
Thakur.  The  magistrate  at  first  thought  that  Hari 
was  charged  with  the  murder  of  a  Rajput,  who  are 
also  called  Thakur;  and  asked  what  Thakur  had  been 
killed.  The  whole  matter  was  soon  explained,  as 
neither  party  made  any  difficulty  about  the  facts. 
The  magistrate  then  asked  to  have  the  body  of  the 
deceased  handed  up  for  inspection,  and  they  placed 
the  basket  on  the  table.  He  stuffed  his  handkerchief 
into  his  mouth,  to  prevent  an  explosion  of  laughter, 
and  gravely  looked  over  the  ruins  of  the  idol;  and 
then  told  the  assembly  that  it  was  a  difficult  case:  the 
accused  did  not  deny  the  killing  of  the  Thakur;  but 
still,  as  there  was  no  blood  in  the  basket,  it  might 
reasonably  be  doubted  whether  the  Thakur  had  ever 
been  alive;  and,  if  it  had  been  alive,  whether  such 
injuries  would  kill  it.  In  consequence  of  this  doubt 
he  would  postpone  the  case  till  to-morrow,  and  in  the 
mean  time  would  consult  the  judge,  and  learn  how  the 
law  should  be  applied  to  such  a  crime;  and  they  might 
come  at  ten  o'clock  and  hear  all  about  it.  He  would 
shut  up  Hari  Das  in  the  jail.  Accordingly  he  did  send 
him  to  the  jail;  but  in  the  evening  rode  over,  called 
him  out,  gave  him  a  rupee  to  buy  food,  because  he 
had  used  all  his  means  in  worshipping  the  Thakur, 
and  told  him  to  be  off  as  soon  as  possible,  or  he  should 
not  be  able  to  protect  him.  Hari  Das  walked  twenty 
miles  that  night,  arid  never  heard  how  the  magistrate 
and  the  mob  settled  the  affair  the  next  day. 

Th,is  circumstance  caused  him  to  reject  and  renounce 
every  form  of  idol  worship.  He  took  up  with  pure 
deism,  but  obtained  no  more  satisfaction  from  that. 
He  then  determined  not  to  wander  about  as  a  yogi 
any  longer,  but  to  secularize  himself  again;  and  ac- 
cordingly entered  the  service  of  an  English  indigo 
planter  as  a  clerk.  This  gentleman's  establishment 
was  at  u  distance  from  any  English  station;  and  a 


92  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

Serampore  Baptist  missionary  was  accustomed  to  enjoy 
the  hospitality  of  the  planter  when  out  on  preaching 
tours  in  that  district.  At  this  place,  Hari  Das  heard 
the  gospel  for  the  first  time,  and  says,  that  he  at  once 
perceived  that  it  was  just  what  he  had  been  so  long 
feeling  after.  After  a  time,  both  the  planter  and  he 
were  converted,  and  were  baptized  together.  Until 
this  gentleman's  death,  Hari  lived  with  him  ;  after 
which  he  laboured  as  a  catechist  in  various  places. 

But  during  his  long  wanderings,  he  had  acquired 
what  may  be  called  a  predisposition  to  vagrancy.  So 
long  as  his  first  patron  lived,  this  was  overmastered 
by  his  attachment  to  him ;  but  afterward  he  could 
settle  in  no  place — something  always  occurred  to  make 
him  discontented.  A  second  bad  habit  was  that  of 
smoking  ganja,  a  preparation  of  the  intoxicating  hemp. 
Nearly  all  the  Hindu  faquirs  practise  this;  and  they 
often  suppose  the  ecstacy  produced  by  it  to  be  reli- 
gious feeling,  and  smoke  it  more  and  more.  They 
esteem  the  reveries  of  this  intoxication  to  be  divine 
inspiration.  Hari  Das  was  a  slave  to  this  habit ;  and 
his  early  patron  had  not  taken  due  pains  to  point  out 
to  him  the  evil  of  it,  or  to  bring  him  off  from  it. 

It  was  some  twenty-five  years  after  his  conversion 
when  he  came  to  me.  He  brought  good  certificates, 
and  asked  for  any  employment  that  would  give  him 
bread.  I  examined  him,  and  was  delighted  with  him. 
He  knew  all  Chamberlain's  Hindi  hymns,  and  many 
more,  and  sung  them  well  to  native  airs.  The  tears 
would  roll  down  his  wrinkled  cheeks,  when  singing  or 
talking  about  Jesus.  With  the  consent  of  the  mission, 
I  took  him  as  a  catechist.  He  preached  in  a  most 
affecting  style.  He  was  sent  out  twice  with  loads  of 
tracts  and  gospels  into  the  large  towns  near  Allaha- 
bad, and  I  had  reason  to  believe  that  he  distributed 
them,  and  preached  faithfully.  During  the  middle  of 
the  day,  when  at  home,  he  often  came  into  the  bunga- 
low to  play  with  my  little  boy,  then  about  four  years 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  93 

old,  talking  to  him  about  Jesus,  and  singing  Hindi 
hymns.  The  child  was  exceedingly  fond  of  the  old 
man,  and  would  leave  any  other  play  to  run  and  nestle 
down  by  him,  and  hear  him  talk  and  sing. 

After  a  few  months,  however,  he  took  a  turn  of 
smoking  gdnja,  which  he  had  not  before  done  since 
he  had  been  with  me.  Under  its  influence  he  did  not 
always  talk  discreetly,  and  caused  scandal  amongst 
our  Hindu  and  Musalman  neighbours.  I  had  at  that 
time  in  the  printing-house  some  lads  from  the  orphan 
asylum,  who  had  somehow  got  a  taste  of  this  drug,  and 
were  in  danger  from  it;  and  we  were  therefore  obliged 
to  deal  sharply  with  Hari  Das,  and  to  hinder  him  from 
smoking  it  altogether.  He  took  offence,  and  left  me 
at  once.  I  regretted  it  exceedingly ;  for  there  ap- 
peared such  evident  signs  of  grace  in  him,  that  I  could 
not  but  attribute  his  ill  conduct  to  occasional  insanity. 
I  heard  of  his  being  afterwards  employed  several  years 
in  an  English  family  as  a  children's  attendant;  but 
there  he  took  offence  because  the  family  laughed  at 
him  for  wishing  to  marry  an  old  widow,  who  lived  in 
the  neighbourhood.  He  left  them  on  this,  and  I  have 
not  heard  of  him  since.  I  have  heard  that  on  his 
journeys  he  always  preached  against  idolatry,  told  his 
own  experience  of  it,  and  declared  that  only  Christ 
could  fill  the  heart.  He  used  to  tell  me  that  he  ex- 
pected to  die  on  some  journey,  and  be  buried  where 
no  Christian  would  know  of  his  grave;  but,  said  he, 
"  Christ  will  know  where  it  is,  when  he  comes  to  gather 
his  people  together,  and  make  up  his  jewels." 

Many  years  since,  at  a  time  when  I  had  no  cate- 
chibt,  a  young  man  presented  himself  to  me,  asking 
for  employment.  He  spoke  such  beautiful  Urdti,  and 
appeared  so  clever,  that  I  was  at  once  much  struck 
with  him.  On  inquiry,  I  found  that  he  was  the  son  of 
a  gentleman,  formerly  an  indigo  planter  in  Oude,  by 
a  Musalman  woman.  lie  had  a  brother  with  him,  and 
both  of  them  were  married  to  Musalman  women;  and 


94  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

a  young  man,  a  connection  of  the  women,  also  accom- 
panied them.  The  brothers  were  nominal  Christians, 
and  the  other  young  man  a  Musalman.  The  one  who 
first  came  to  me  was  made  Munshi  to  me,  and  his 
brother  was  placed  in  our  English  school  as  assistant, 
while  their  Musalman  friend  was  put  into  the  type- 
foundry.  For  a  time  all  things  appeared  to  go  on 
well.  The  Munshi  was  made  catechist,  and  was  an 
eloquent  and  persuasive  disputant.  I  never  have  been 
so  thoroughly  captivated  by  any  man  as  by  him.  But 
when  some  time  had  passed,  we  found  that  he  was 
getting  deeply  into  debt.  Gradually  we  found  out 
him  and  his  brother  in  various  falsehoods  and  rascali- 
ties, and  were  obliged  to  put  them  out  of  our  com- 
munion, and  discharge  them.  A  pair  of  more  thorough 
villains  probably  never  existed;  and  the  extreme  plau- 
sibility that  enabled  the  chief  one  of  them  to  deceive 
me  so  greatly,  at  the  same  time  fitted  them  to  carry 
on  their  villanies,  so  that  not  a  tenth  part  of  them  was 
discovered  until  the  explosion  caused  by  their  discharge 
brought  them  to  light.  My  disappointment  as  to  this 
man  was  one  of  my  chief  trials  as  a  missionary.  This 
case  should  have  had  a  place  along  with  other  sad  ones, 
had  it  not  been  for  its  connection  with  the  following. 

The  Musalman  young  man  did  not  seem  to  be  in- 
volved in  their  offences.  He  had  long  been  under 
instruction,  and  had  made  a  profession  of  Christianity. 
When  his  friends  went  away  we  invited  him  to  cast 
off  their  bonds,  and  no  longer  be  connected  with  such 
disreputable  men.  He  determined  to  do  so.  After- 
\vard  he  was  made  a  catechist,  and  laboured  under  my 
care  for  several  years,  giving  general  satisfaction. 
He  has  since  become  a  catechist  at  Futtehgurh,  has 
much  improved  as  a  preacher,  and  is  steady  and  well 
liked  there. 

There  are  several  catechists  in  the  Allahabad  mis- 
sion, who  were  brought  up  in  our  orphan  asylum.  I 
do  not  think  an  orphan  asylum  the  best  possible  place 


IN   NOKTH   INDIA.  95 

in  which  to  educate  men.  It  seems  to  produce  a 
character  always  too  much  prone  to  dependence.  For 
this  reason  our  young  men  have  not  fully  met  our 
expectations.  But  they  may  yet  improve.  And  as 
they  are  we  have  had  much  valuable  fruit  from  the 
asylum.  One  went  with  Mr.  James  Wilson  to  Agra, 
and  died  there  very  young,  but  not  before  he  had 
gamed  the  hearty  love  and  confidence  of  all  who 
knew  him.  Mr.  Wilson  always  spoke  of  him  as  one 
of  the  most  lovely  Christians  whom  he  had  known. 
The  assistants  of  the  Rev.  Gopinath  Nandi,  at  Fut- 
tehpore,  are  from  the  same  asylum,  as  are  also  our 
catechists  who  are  labouring  at  our  out-station  called 
Banda. 

A  catechist  at  Agra,  who  was  under  my  care  while 
I  was  stationed  there,  is  a  convert  from  the  Armenian 
Church,  a  few  families  of  which  are  settled  there. 
He  is  a  good  and  quiet  man,  very  willing  to  labour, 
and  of  good  character  amongst  the  natives.  He  is 
supported  by  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Agra. 

I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  details  of  this  chapter 
will  seem  dark  and  discouraging  to  some  readers. 
Many  appear  to  expect  that  all  news  from  mission 
fields  should  be  rose-coloured;  that  all  converts  should 
be  a  joy  and  comfort  to  us;  and  that  they  should  be 
not  only  free  from  the  evils  caused  by  a  vicious  edu- 
cation and  corrupt  society,  but  even  from  those  inhe- 
rent in  human  nature  itself.  But  a  moment's  reflection 
will  correct  such  an  expectation  as  this.  There  is  at 
least  as  much  probability  that  there  will  be  hypocrites 
amongst  our  converts  as  in  the  churches  at  home; 
that  interested  motives  should  actuate  some  of  them; 
and  that  the  natural  evils  of  character,  and  evil  cir- 
cumstances, should  mar  the  developments  of  piety. 
A  correct  view  of  our  circumstances  will  even  show 
that  the  missionary  in  India  must  have  more  of  these 
evils  to  struggle  with  than  the  pastor  at  home. 

It  should  also  be  remembered,  that  these  anecdotes 


contain  no  account  of  the  mass  of  our  people,  or  even 
of  the  greater  number  of  well-behaved  catechists.  The 
use  that  ought  to  be  made  of  these  facts  is,  that  the 
Church  should  be  induced  to  give  special  thanks  for 
those  that  are  satisfactory,  and  to  pray  for  special 
grace  to  be  given  to  the  missionaries  and  their  con- 
verts, to  guard  them  from  ever  present  evils.  If  our 
history,  a  specimen  of  which  has  been  given  in  this 
chapter,  be  compared  with  that  of  the  apostolic  period, 
we  shall  find  a  similarity  greater  than  most  people 
suspect. 

Paul  was  obliged  to  reprove  the  Corinthians  for 
dissensions,  for  disorderly  practices,  and  for  allowing 
a  gross  crime.  The  apostles  had  amongst  their  very 
early  converts,  Simon  of  Samaria,  whose  first  thought 
was  how  he  might  make  money  out  of  religion.  Mark 
departed  from  the  service  of  Paul,  when  the  latter  cer- 
tainly esteemed  it  a  dereliction  of  duty.  Paul  com- 
plains of  the  Roman  Christians,  who  were  apparently 
frightened  by  the  dangers  surrounding  them : — "At 
my  first  answer  [trial]  no  man  stood  with  me."  False 
teachers  arose  in  the  churches  in  abundance.  Demas 
loved  this  present  world.  Diotrephes  loved  the  pre- 
eminence. But  there  is  no  need  to  go  further:  our 
work  will  be  injured  by  the  truth,  in  the  opinion  of  no 
one  who  does  not  wish  for  an  excuse  for  holding  back 
from  it;  and  the  intelligent  sympathy  and  prayers  of 
God's  true  children  will  more  than  compensate  for 
these  defections,  if  there  be  any  such.  Let  us  all 
expect  trials  and  disappointments. 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  97 


CHAPTER  V. 

CHURCH    BUILDINGS,  AND    PREACHING   AT    THE    STATIONS. 

THE  preceding  chapters  have  already  made  known 
some  of  our  first  expedients  for  places  of  Hindustani 
•worship — one  being  the  school-room  in  Mr.  Wilson's 
house,  and  the  other,  a  room  in  the  printing-house. 
In  Mr.  Morrison's  house  the  English  service  was  held. 
This  was  a  state  of  things  that  could  not  be  other- 
wise than  temporary.  Amongst  our  plans  would,  of 
course,  be  schemes  for  building  places  of  worship,  in 
which  all  our  associations  would  be  favourable  to  de- 
votion, where  all  could  assemble  with  convenience, 
and  to  which  strangers  might  feel  at  liberty  to  come. 
And  we  felt  persuaded  that  the  mere  sight  of  a  Chris- 
tian place  of  worship  would  excite  inquiry,  and  thus  do 
good — that  is  to  say,  would,  in  a  certain  manner,  be 
a  continual  preacher  to  the  natives.  The  English 
congregation  first  took  measures  to  build  a  church. 
The  members  subscribed  liberally,  and  the  other  resi- 
dents at  the  station  helped  them  very  handsomely; 
and  a  neat  little  building  was  put  up  and  finished.  I 
made  every  effort  to  have  it  built  close  to  the  native 
town,  or  in  it,  so  that  it  would  answer  for  a  Hindus- 
tani chapel  as  well;  but  it  was  built  outside.  This 
was  a  miscalculation,  as  will  appear  hereafter. 

The  next  year  after  my  settlement  at  Allahabad  the 
mission  bought  a  new  place  for  the  families  of  Messrs. 
Wilson  and  Freeman,  and  for  the  two  orphan  asylums, 
on  the  bank  of  the  Jumna,  between  the  two  parts  of 
the  native  city.  West  of  this  place,  or  up  that  river, 
lay  the  old  city — the  city  proper;  and  east  of  it,  or 
down  the  river,  a  comparatively  new  suburb  of  great 
size,  extending  towards  the  Fort.  The  lot  of  land  which 
we  here  secured,  had  a  very  large  bungalow  upon  it, 
9 


98  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

through  the  middle  of  which  we  put  up  a  new  wall; 
and,  after  some  other  minor  alterations  it  became  two 
good  houses.  The  former  kitchen  and  buildings 
attached  to  it  were  so  large  that  we  put  the  girls' 
orphan  asylum  into  them,  with  sufficient  apartments 
for  the  matron,  an  East  Indian  woman,  and  her  hus- 
band. Over  against  this  place,  but  at  a  considerable 
distance,  we  built  a  house  for  the  boys'  orphan  asylum. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  a  road,  that  was  in  front  of 
the  place,  was  a  lot  of  land,  that  was  attached  to  this 
estate ;  and  on  this  lot  was  a  building,  that  had  been 
part  of  an  old  mint,  abolished  when  the  East  India 
Company  made  arrangements  for  a  uniform  coinage 
for  India,  and  for  making  it  in  the  European  manner. 
This  old  house  we  repaired,  and  made  the  place  for 
Hindustani  worship.  The  congregation  now  began  to 
look  like  one:  the  two  asylums  had  come  together, 
and  some  other  Christians  were  assembled.  But  this 
place  was  dark,  hot,  inconvenient,  and  of  mean 
appearance.  It  was  only  intended  to  be  temporary. 

The  English  congregation,  mentioned  above,  had 
been  gathered  in  the  first  place  by  the  late  Rev.  James 
McEwen.  This  gentleman  spent  some  time  at  Alla- 
habad as  a  missionary  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church,  in  connection  with  the  Board  of  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society.  His  health,  however, 
never  allowed  him  to  enter  fully  upon  missionary 
labours.  He  preached  in  English  in  his  own  house,  and 
organized  a  church,  consisting  of  some  few  Presbyte- 
rians, some  English  dissenters,  and  a  few  persons  who 
had  become  dissatisfied  in  the  Church  of  England. 
Two  elders  were  ordained.  When  Mr.  McEwen's 
health  compelled  him  to  return  to  America,  the  Rev. 
James  Wilson  took  his  place;  and  he  was  joined  the 
next  year  by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Morrison.  These  gen- 
tlemen ministered  to  the  Church,  and  were  assisted 
by  Mr.  Freeman  and  me  after  our  arrival.  The  peo- 
ple composing  this  congregation  were  almost  entirely 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  99 

from  two  government  offices.  Not  long  after  they 
had  completed  the  building  of  their  church,  as  before 
related,  the  government  offices  were  removed  to 
Agra,  which  had  some  time  before  been  made  the  seat 
of  the  government  for  the  Northwest  Provinces.  This 
movement  totally  removed  this  congregation  from 
Allahabad,  with  the  exception  of  the  mission  families, 
and  left  their  edifice  vacant.  All  the  families  of  the 
mission  save  one  were  living  three  miles  from  this 
church;  and  therefore  the  building  was  useless  for 
English  services.  It  was  also  useless  as  a  place  for 
Hindustani  worship ;  for,  though  not  far  away  from 
the  press,  it  was  too  far  to  be  convenient  for  the 
native  Christian  women.  The  manners  of  Hindus- 
tan, as  to  women,  are  so  peculiar,  that  decent  native 
women  cannot  walk  far  from  home,  or  go  out  in  any 
other  manner,  save  in  close  conveyances.  English 
women  act  as  they  do  at  home,  in  spite  of  native 
prejudice ;  and  no  doubt  the  native  Christian  women 
will  be  able  to  assume  similar  liberty,  when  they  can 
be  recognized  as  Christians.  Unfortunately,  at  pre- 
sent they  are  taken  to  be  women  of  an  objectionable 
class,  and  insulted  if  they  walk  out.  This  edifice  was 
also  out  of  the  town  so  far  that  it  did  not  attract 
other  native  visitors.  It  was  accordingly  taken  down, 
and  its  doors,  and  some  of  its  materials  were  used  in 
the  construction  of  the  new  church,  near  the  Jumna 
mission-house,  with  the  consent  of  the  owners. 

The  mission  desired  very  much  to  have  a  church 
edifice  at  this  place.  Our  English,  as  well  as  our 
Hindustani  meetings  were  now  held  in  the  old  mint. 
But  almost  all  of  us  thought  it  impossible  to  raise  the 
means  for  building.  However,  as  treasurer  of  the 
mission,  with  its  approval,  I  began  to  "nurse  a  church- 
building  fund,"  to  use  the  phrase  which  was  then  my 
favourite  one  in  describing  it.  The  Executive  Com- 
mittee in  New  York  allowed  us  to  use  donations 
received  iu  India,  for  tho  general  purposes  of  the 


100  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

mission,  in  any  local  undertaking  of  this  kind ;  and 
we  began  to  put  all  such  accumulations  into  a  bank- 
er's hands  as  an  interest  deposit.  This  Committee 
also  allowed  us  to  use  a  small  sum,  which  we  saved 
out  of  the  estimated  expenses  of  the  mission  during 
one  year ;  and  this  was  added  to  the  deposit.  When 
we  had  thus  made  a  fair  beginning  we  sent  about  a 
subscription,  and  the  object  was  secured.  This  was 
a  delightful  labour  for  me;  and  Mr.  Freeman  zeal- 
ously assisted  me  in  it,  especially  in  procuring  the 
later  donations  to  finish  the  work — always  a  matter 
of  more  difficulty  than  the  beginning.  He  and  I  laid 
out  the  general  plan  of  the  work ;  I  pitched  tents  on 
the  ground,  and  remained  there  nearly  a  month,  while 
we  arranged  for  burning  the  bricks  and  the  lime; 
and  then  I  left  the  carrying  on  of  the  building  to  him, 
on  account  of  the  distance  of  my  house  from  that 
place.  He  did  the  work  well,  assisted  by  my  cate- 
chist,  Bttbti  John  Hari.  The  church  is  large  enough 
to  seat  four  hundred  people  in  the  close  native  man- 
ner. It  is  not  a  specimen  of  correct  achitecture;  but 
yet  is  pronounced  pretty,  and  substantial,  and  appro- 
priate, by  almost  every  one.  It  was  dedicated  by  a 
mixed  Hindustani  and  English  service,  in  which  all 
the  missionaries  present  took  a  part,  in  the  presence 
of  all  our  native  Christians  and  many  English  and 
native  visitors.  The  early  day  in  our  mission  history 
at  which  this  was  completed,  and  the  small  means 
with  which  we  had  to  begin,  rendered  our  success  a 
subject  of  much  thanksgiving  and  pleasure. 

Needing  a  chapel  near  the  printing-house,  in 
which  the  part  of  the  church  connected  with  this 
establishment  might  worship  on  ordinary  occasions,  I 
applied  for  a  grant  from  the  Executive  Committee, 
but  could  not  obtain  one,  because  the  funds  were 
already  pledged  to  other  objects.  At  this  juncture 
a  friend  offered  to  lend  me  a  small  sum  of  money 
— nearly  enough  for  the  purpose.  The  loan  was 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  101 

accepted,  and  a  fund  for  repaying  it  was  "nursed," 
as  it  had  been  for  the  church.  The  loan  was  paid 
when  expected — the  final  settlement  of  the  whole 
account  being  brought  about  by  a  subscription 
amongst  the  native  Christians.  For  this  chapel  we 
secured  a  lot  of  land  facing  the  road  leading  through 
the  large  native  village  near  the  Press.  This  village 
is  called  Kattarii,  and  contains  the  native  shop- 
keepers, mechanics,  and  miscellaneous  population 
attached  to  the  European  station,  beside  the  original 
old  families,  which  belonged  to  it  before  the  English 
gained  possession  of  those  provinces.  At  one  end  of 
the  town  there  is  but  a  small  space  between  the  main 
street  and  the  back  part  of  the  press  premises,  where 
the  Christian  houses  are  situated;  and  through  this 
space  a  narrow  land  leads  by  the  side  of  the  chapel 
to  the  street.  This  private  lane  allows  the  native 
Christian  women  to  walk  to  church;  which  is  an 
important  consideration  in  view  of  native  prejudices. 

Previous  to  the  building  of  these  churches,  we  built 
a  small  chapel  at  the  Chauk,  in  which  to  preach  to 
Hindus  and  Musalmans  of  the  city,  and  for  a 
vernacular  school.  This  place  was  built  entirely  by 
a  subscription  amongst  the  European  residents  at  the 
station.  All  Hindustani  cities  have  what  is  called 
The  Ckauk,  and  some  have  more  than  one.  Some 
are  wide  streets,  and  some  are  open  squares,  near  the 
centre  of  the  town.  The  Chauk  is  the  chief  place 
of  business.  The  best  shops  usually  surround  it. 
Various  hawkers  of  merchandize  frequent  it.  The 
dandies  of  the  city  display  their  fine  airs  and  dresses 
in  it  towards  the  evening.  The  tellers  and  hearers 
of  news  resort  to  it  in  crowds.  Strangers  go  to  it  to 
stare  at  the  people  and  sights  of  the  city.  At  Alla- 
habad the  Chauk  is  a  vacant  square  on  one  side  of 
the  principal  street.  The  back  part  of  the  square  is 
bounded  by  a  large  tank,  or  artificial  pond  of  water; 
and  in  the  centre  of  this  side  our  chapel  is  placed, 
9* 


102  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

with  its  back  wall  near  the  brink  of  the  tank.  The 
ground  for  this  purpose  was  given  to  us  by  the 
government.  Two  sides  of  the  square  are  lined  with 
shops;  and  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  is  covered 
with  an  arcade,  in  which  are  also  shops.  This  large 
square,  and  the  street  before  it,  are  filled  every  even- 
ing with  an  almost  solid  mass  of  human  beings. 

Near  our  place  on  the  Jumna  formerly  lived  an  old 
Musalman  woman,  who  had  been  the  wife  or  mistress 
of  an  Englishman.  She  had  a  house,  and  some  jewels 
and  finery,  as  well  as  a  little  other  property.  She 
became  acquainted  with  some  of  the  women  attached 
to  the  mission,  and  was  induced  to  attend  the  Hindus- 
tani services,  and  finally  made  a  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity in  our  connection.  After  a  year  or  two  she 
died;  and  on  her  death-bed  she  bequeathed  to  the 
mission  her  property,  a  part  of  which  had  been 
already  pawned  to  us  as  security  for  money  which  we 
had  lent  to  her  for  her  current  expenses.  She  had 
no  relatives  in  the  world,  and  we  had  no  hesitation  in 
accepting  the  legacy.  With  it  we  built  another  chapel 
in  Kyd  Ganj,  the  suburb  east  of  the  mission-house. 
This  chapel  is  on  one  of  the  main  thoroughfares  of 
the  city.  In  it  is  kept  another  of  our  vernacular 
schools. 

At  most  of  our  stations  the  missionaries  maintain 
English  services  on  the  Sabbath  evenings,  for  their 
own  families  and  the  few  English  who  wish  to  join 
with  them,  together  with  that  portion  of  the  native 
Christians  who  can  speak  English.  At  Allahabad  all 
of  us  usually  took  this  service  in  turn,  so  that  it 
provecj  in  no  way  burdensome.  It  is  an  advantage, 
rather  than  otherwise,  to  have  to  preach  occasionally 
in  English.  It  has  also  been  a  great  comfort  to  our 
families  to  have  these  services ;  for,  though  our  wives 
learn  Hindustani,  yet  very  few  do  so  to  such  an  ex- 
tent as  to  render  services  in  that  language  so  edifying 
as  those  in  English  are.  Beside  this,  the  English 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  103 

service  is  profitable  to  our  catechists  and  pupils  who 
are  learning  our  language.  Since  the  removal  of  the 
English  church  to  Agra  a  few  pious  Presbyterians 
have  been  in  communion  with  us  while  residing  at  the 
station:  one,  a  surgeon  in  the  army,  was  made  an 
elder,  and  assisted  in  our  session;  and  after  his  re- 
moval to  another  station  served  another  of  our  con- 
gregations in  the  same  capacity.  A  few  Europeans 
and  East  Indians  have  been  admitted  to  a  profession 
of  faith  there.  In  all  these  ways  we  have  the  satis- 
faction of  knowing  that  our  labours  have  not  been  in 
vain  in  the  Lord;  and  that  our  success  has,  indeed, 
been  eminent,  when  we  consider  the  small  number  of 
people  that  were  accessible  by  this  form  of  effort. 

When  I  was  removed  to  Agra  circumstances  were 
such  that  I  was  called  upon  to  be  the  minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  there — the  same  church  that 
originated  at  Allahabad — for  a  year  and  a  half.  The 
Rev.  Messr£  Fullerton  and  Williams  gave  me  occa- 
sional assistance.  We  had  three  full  services  in  the 
week.  This  has  been  the  only  occasion  on  which  I 
have  given  up  any  time  to  other  Christians  than  na- 
tives; and  this  by  no  means  hindered  my  doing  other 
work  for  the  mission  to  a  very  considerable  extent. 
Further  mention  of  this  people  will  be  found  in  the 
eighth  chapter  of  this  work. 

Beside  thus  preaching  English  in  our  churches,  I 
have  occasionally  preached  to  soldiers  of  European 
regiments,  both  at  Allahabad  and  Agra,  and  on  the 
road  when  they  were  marching. 

As  soon  as  I  could  preach  in  Hindustani,  I  took 
charge  of  my  own  congregation  at  the  Press,  while  the 
other  missionaries  carried  on  the  vernacular  services 
at  the  Jumna,  and  usually  maintained  a  Sabbath 
morning  service  at  the  chapel  in  Kyd  Ganj.  The 
congregation  at  the  Jumna  contained  the  orphan  asy- 
lums, the  families  of  catechists  and  teachers,  the 
servants  of  the  mission  families,  and  two  or  three  ver- 


104  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

nacular  schools.  The  boys  of  the  English  school 
often  attended,  as  did  some  men  from  the  city.  That 
at  Kyd  Ganj  contained  some  families  of  poor  native 
Christians,  such  as  pensioned  drummers,  and  two  ver- 
nacular schools,  beside  many  occasional  hearers.  This 
chapel,  being  on  a  great  thoroughfare,  often  attracted 
those  who  were  passing,  and  was  a  good  place  for  the 
proclamation  of  the  gospel.  My  congregation  had 
two  vernacular  schools,  beside  my  own  people  and 
frequent  visitors. 

The  native  infantry  regiments  in  the  East  India 
Company's  service  usually  have  Christian  musicians. 
They  are  native  Christians  of  various  kinds — the 
greater  part  the  descendants  of  the  old  Roman  Catho- 
lic converts,  left  without  any  care,  and  very  ignorant 
and  depraved.  Many  call  themselves  Portuguese,  but 
scarcely  differ  from  those  before  mentioned.  The  Por- 
tuguese in  India  have  mixed  with  the  low^aste  natives 
so  thoroughly,  that  there  is  left  scarcely  any  difference 
between  them:  in  complexion,  and  other  physical  qua- 
lities, genteel  natives  of  the  upper  provinces  have  the 
advantage  of  them.  Others  of  these  musicians  are 
native  Protestants,  who  probably  conducted  them- 
selves badly  in  their  missions;  and  others  are  the 
descendants  of  the  lowest  East  Indians,  sprung  from 
European  soldiers  and  low  native  mothers.  Two  of 
the  regiments  are  stationed  at  Allahabad,  but  not 
always  the  same,  as  it  is  customary  to  change  the  can- 
tonments of  all  the  regular  regiments  of  the  line  every 
two  or  three  years.  Some  of  the  musicians  cannot 
speak  English  at  all,  and  the  greater  part  of  them  but 
imperfectly. 

I  procured  leave  for  them  to  attend  my  service,  from 
their  commanding  officers,  when  possible.  The  cate- 
chists  often  assisted  in  efforts  for  this  class.  There  is 
no  doubt  but  that  good  was  done  in  some  instances. 
One  family  of  six  persons  publicly  renounced  popery 
in  my  chapel;  but  as  this  was  near  the  close  of  their 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  105 

residence  at  All;»habad,  they  were  not  admitted  to  full 
membership.  They  pledged  themselves,  however,  to 
attend  Protestant  worship  wherever  they  went.  I  also 
held  meetings  frequently  at  their  houses.  One  Musal- 
man  woman,  who  was  intimate  with  the  people  of  one 
of  these  bands,  was  converted,  baptized,  and  married 
to  a  drummer.  This  part  of  my  congregation  was 
irregular,  because  some  of  the  regiments  were  more 
inaccessible  than  others;  but  they  often  added  largely 
to  my  sphere  of  labour. 

At  first,  one  Hindustani  sermon  in  a  week,  and  a 
Bible  class,  was  as  much  as  I  could  prepare  for.  After 
a  time,  a  week-day  evening  service  was  added ;  and 
finally  a  second  service  on  the  Sabbath  was  substituted 
for  the  Bible  class,  and  the  want  of  this  was  supplied 
by  exposition  of  the  portions  of  Scripture  read  daily 
at  our  morning  worship.  Occasionally  I  exchanged 
with  those  who  preached  at  the  other  places;  and  fre- 
quently B4bu  Hari,  the  catechist,  who  after  a  time 
became  a  licentiate,  took  one  of  these  services. 

The  different  forms  of  preaching  done  directly  for 
the  Hindus  and  Musalmans,  are  next  to  be  described. 
It  is  with  sorrow  that  I  have  say,  I  could  not  do  so 
much  of  this  as  I  desired.  Having  charge  of  the  press, 
being  treasurer  of  the  mission,  and  often  having  much 
other  secular  work  to  do  for  the  mission,  beside  being 
pastor  of  a  small  congregation,  it  was  sometimes  im- 
practicable to  find  any  time  when  it  was  possible  for 
me  to  go  out  to  preach  for  three  or  four  days  together. 
And  often,  after  a  hard  day's  work  in  an  exhausting 
climate,  there  was  not  strength  or  energy  sufficient  to 
carry  me  to  the  city  or  the  bazar,  if  there  were  time. 
Six  hours'  steady  employment  at  a  desk  is  considered 
a  hard  day's  work  for  a  European  in  that  climate; 
and  I  often  spent  ten,  and  rarely  less  than  eight,  be- 
sides the  duties  that  my  family  required,  and  all  the 
time  spent  in  actual  preaching.  Another  hinderance, 
which  I  sometimes  felt,  was  the  want  of  a  horse,  to  aid 


106  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

me  in  visiting  the  more  distant  villages.  Walking  to 
them,  through  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  is  quite 
inconsistent  with  a  due  regard  to  health.  And  if  one 
were  to  walk  out  and  preach  at  a  distance,  by  the  time 
he  reached  home  he  would  be  unfit  for  the  labours  con- 
nected with  the  press  or  translation.  Every  mission 
ought  to  be  authorized  to  allow  to  each  man,  who  is 
qualified  for  this  business,  a  horse  and  light  vehicle  to 
carry  him  and  his  catechist  to  their  work.  It  would 
double  their  efficiency  in  this  department.  At  Saha- 
runpore,  they  have  a  kind  of  car  drawn  by  one  horse, 
that  goes  to  the  city  every  day,  carrying  the  two  mis- 
sionaries and  two  or  three  catechists,  or  as  many  of 
them  as  can  go.  I  neglected  to  learn  how  this  is  sup- 
ported ;  but  it  is  a  good  thing,  and  immensely  increases 
the  effective  labours  of  the  station.  Sometimes  the 
missions  furnish  a  horse  to  assist  the  superintendent 
of  the  city  school,  when  he  lives  at  a  distance  from  it; 
and  this  is  a  principle,  the^  operation  of  which  ought 
to  be  extended. 

There  are  various  ways  in  which  we  preach  to  the 
heathen.  Probably  the  readers  of  this  book  have 
some  notion  of  them ;  but  still  it  may  be  well  to  bring 
them  together  into  one  view.  For  this  purpose  let  us 
begin  with  street  preaching. 

When  about  to  engage  in  this,  the  missionary  and 
catechist  take  their  stand  in  the  verandah  of  a  cha- 
pel, or  school-house,  or  a  place  hired  for  the  purpose, 
beside  a  frequented  thoroughfare,  or  at  the  chunk, 
and  resort  to  various  plans  to  gain  an  audience. 
Often  the  catechist  begins  to  read  some  tract  aloud ; 
sometimes  the  missionary  accosts  some  man  who  is 
passing,  with  an  observation  about  his  health,  the 
weather,  or  any  common  subject;  and  the  people  stop 
to  listen.  Frequently  the  people  gather  around  of 
themselves,  on  merely  seeing  the  party.  When 
several  are  collected  the  missionary  or  catechist  gives 
such  a.  turn  to  the  reading  or  conversation,  that  it 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  10T 

slides  into  a  continuous  speech.  When  he  is  tired, 
the  other  takes  it  up.  When  sufficient  time  is  passed 
in  this  way,  tracts  and  Scriptures  are  offered  to  read- 
ers who  desire  them.  Care  is  taken  to  see  that  appli- 
cants can  read,  and  also  that  they  seem  anxious  to  get 
a  book  ;  except  in  some  cases,  when  people  from  a  dis- 
tance promise  to  carry  the  book  to  some  friend  at  home 
who  can  read;  or  a  disputant  is  furnished  with  a  tract 
on  a  particular  subject  under  discussion,  and  which  he 
may  be  induced  to  promise  to  read.  The  whole  Bible 
is  never,  and  the  entire  New  Testament  very  seldom, 
offered  on  these  occasions  ;  but  portions  of  them,  such 
as  those  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  the  press. 

This  is  the  course  that  all  aim  to  pursue;  but  they 
are  always  liable  to  many  interruptions.  The  hear- 
ers will  often  break  in  with  questions  and  objections. 
When  the  questions  seem  to  be  put  with  a  real  desire 
to  hear  a  more  full  explanation  of  any  point,  they 
are  always  answered;  but  if  they  are  merely  factious 
ones,  intended  to  interrupt  the  preaching,  as  is  often 
the  case,  they  are  evaded  if  possible:  the  missionary 
tells  the  audience  that  the  question  is  out  of  place 
— does  not  refer  to  the  subject  in  hand;  or  that  he 
will  be  glad  to  take  up  the  subject  when  he  is  done 
with  the  present  one;  or  he  hands  over  a  tract,  saying 
that  that  contains  the  answer,  which  may  be  read  at 
leisure.  But  it  is  not  always  easy  to  get  rid  of  a 
man  who  is  determined  to  cause  an  interruption;  he 
often  insists  on  an  answer,  and  becomes  noisy.  He 
perhaps  pushes  himself  forward,  looks  to  the  right 
and  left  for  support,  gesticulates  violently,  and 
declares  that  he  has  floored  the  missionary,  who  can- 
not answer  his  questions ;  arid  it  becomes  necessary 
to  take  up  the  subject  thus  thrust  forward,  often  to 
the  partial  or  total  eclipse  of  the  original  one.  It 
requires  a  great  deal  of  skill,  good  temper,  tact  and 
discretion,  as  well  as  information,  to  manage  such  a 
discussion  well.  A  ready  use  of  the  native  language 


108  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

also  is  most  important  in  snch  casea.  If  the  mis- 
sionary hesitates  for  a  word,  his  opponent  will  have  all 
the  more  opportunity  to  push  his  objection ;  and  he 
will  generally  be  quick  enough  to  perceive  his  advan- 
tage, and  to  seize  upon  it.  To  lose  one's  temper,  to 
give  anything  short  of  a  conclusive  answer,  or  to 
stumble  and  become  confused,  are  destructive  of  all 
hope  of  making  an  impression  at  that  time,  and  will 
usually  cause  a  scattering  of  the  audience. 

The  temper  is  often  tried  by  men  and  boys,  who 
evidently  seek  a  kind  of  notoriety  by  opposing  the 
missionary.  Perhaps  he  may  be  talking  on  the 
necessity  of  an  atonement  for  sin  ;  when,  in  the  midst 
of  his  argument,  with  a  crowd  of  people  listening  with 
apparent  interest,  a  Musahmin  will  break  in  with — 
"You  believe  in  two  Gods — you  make  Jesus  to  be 
God."  The  missionary  takes  no  notice  of  the  remark, 
hoping  that  it  will  not  be  repeated.  "  Oh  yes,  you 
are  like  the  idolaters — yOu  make  a  man  God."  No 
answer.  "You  see,  brethren,  this  preacher  wishes  to 
slur  over  an  evident  fact:  I  have  said  he  believes  in 
two  Gods,  and  he  cannot  answer  me."  Then,  taking 
courage,  he  keeps  up  a  vociferation,  till  the  multitude 
becomes  confused.  Here  the  missionary  must  stop, 
and  answer  the  objection,  or  postpone  it,  or  appeal  to 
the  people  to  stop  it  as  irrelevant,  which  they  will 
sometimes  good-naturedly  force  the  objector  to  do. 
But,  whichever  of  these  things  may  be  the  result,  the 
opposer  has  gained  his  end,  of  showing  himself  off  as 
clever  and  zealous,  and  a  certain  amount  of  hinderance 
has  been  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  truth.  Or,  pro- 
bably some  objection  is  made  to  what  is  said,  and  the 
objector  will  insist  on  having  an  opportunity  to  state 
it.  At  such  a  time  if  the  missionary  allow  himself  to 
be  hurried  into  an  answer  too  soon,  the  result  often 
is  a  small  running  fire  on  both  sides,  which  may  sub- 
serve some  of  the  designs  of  more  formal  preaching, 
but  as  surely  defeats  a  part  of  them.  When  an 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  109 

objector  seems  to  be  very  full  of  matter,  and  always 
has  something  to  add  as  often  as  the  preacher  begins 
to  answer  him,  and  complains  that  he  is  not  allowed 
fairly  and  fully  to  bring  out  his  objections,  it  is  fre- 
quently best  to  say,  "Well,  you  may  state  all  you 
wish,  on  the  condition  that  you  do  it  all  at  once,  and 
then  let  me  answer  without  interrupting  me."  If  he 
consents  to  this,  the  preacher  will  then  call  on  all  the 
people  to  see  fair  play,  and  keep  him  to  his  agreement. 
Then  the  man  begins,  after  promising  that  he  will 
talk  a  long  time  now  that  he  has  the  ground,  and 
attempts  to  make  a  great  speech;  but  frequently 
breaks  down  in  two  minutes.  Thus  the  same  man, 
•who  would  have  conversed  and  wrangled  for  an  hour, 
is  silenced  by  being  allowed  to  talk  as  long  as  he  will 
without  interruption.  Then  the  missionary  asks, 
"Are  you  done?"  "Yes."  "  You  are  ready  to  con- 
fess that  you  have  had  the  opportunity  you  demanded, 
and  have  said  what  you  wish  to  say?"  "Yes." 
After  this  the  preacher  can  answer  him  in  quiet.  If 
the  opponent  attempts  any  further  interruption 
before  that  subject  is  disposed  of,  the  people  will  gen- 
erally insist  on  his  keeping  silence,  that  they  may 
hear  the  preacher's  answer.  But  now  and  then  the 
result  is  different:  several  objectors  encourage  each 
other,  and  make  a  noise  out  of  enmity  and  spite,  and 
seriously  hinder  us.  This,  however,  does  not  often 
happen:  the  speaker  has  often  to  d^al  with  difficul- 
ties— seldom  with  impossibilities. 

Sometimes  the  'missionary  and  his  assistant  are 
obliged  to  take  their  stand  simply  in  the  street,  for 
want  of  a  place  that  may  be  hired  for  this  purpose. 
I  have  many  times  stopped  in  front  of  a  shop,  to  talk 
with  the  people  in  it ;  and,  after  introducing  some 
ordinary  topic  of  conversation,  have  been  invited  to 
sit  down.  The  people  readily  gathered  about,  out  of 
curiosity;  and  then  I  stood  up  and  preached.  At 
other  times  we  begin,  in  something  like  the  manner 
10 


110  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

of  public  criers,  without  preface  or  help,  and  do  the 
best  we  can. 

We  almost  always  obtain  an  audience;  but  occa- 
sionally people  are  busy,  or  some  noisy  opponent  dis- 
gusts them,  or  we  make  an  unskilful  and  uninteresting 
beginning,  and  the  people  will  not  remain.  This, 
however,  seldom  happens. 

Our  opponents  are  usually  respectful  in  word  and 
manner;  but  the  reverse  of  this  happens  too,  and 
causes  great  trials  of  patience.  On  one  occasion, 
when  I  was  preaching  in  the  verandah  of  the  Chauk 
chapel,  with  a  good  audience,  principally  Mohamme- 
dans, a  man  pushed  his  way  up  to  me  from  the  back 
part  of  the  crowd,  and  interrupted  me  without  preface 
or  apology,  by  saying,  "You  are  a  liar  and  rascal, 
sir;  you  preach  a  corrupt  book  to  the  people.  Hear, 
brethren;  this  fellow  pretends  that  Christians  are 
superior  to  us  in  morality,  and  that  their  book  is  holy: 
but  in  truth  it  allows  a  man  to  take  his  mother  for  a 
wife,  and  to  steal."  The  suddenness  and  grossness 
of  this  attack  both  startled  and  made  me  indignant. 
I  should  be  less  than  a  man  if  I  had  not  to  confess 
that  my  temper  was  seriously  tried.  Therefore  I 
answered  him,  in  his  own  style  in  a  measure — "  You 
know  that  to  be  a  gross  slander  and  a  falsehood. 
What  induces  you  to  be  guilty  of  such  conduct  as 
this?" 

He  answered,  "  What  I  say  is  true,  and  you  know 
it  to  be  so." 

I  asked,  "Have  you  read  the  gospel?" 

He  said,  "Yes;  I  have  carefully  examined  it;  I 
know  as  much  of  it  as  you  do;  I  have  gone  over  it 
with  great  attention  more  than  once,  and  am  prepared 
to  prove  that  Christian  pretensions  to  pure  morality 
are  all  a  lie,  and  that  the  book  allows  the  grossest 
licentiousness  and  dishonesty." 

I  induced  him  to  repeat  his  specific  charges,  and 
then  asked  him  to  point  out  the  places  on  which  they 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  Ill 

were  founded  in  an  Urdu  New  Testament,  which  I 
held  out  to  him.  By  this  time  I  had  quite  mastered 
my  temper.  He  refused  to  touch  the  book,  affecting 
to  be  struck  with  horror  at  it,  as  polluting,  and  saying, 
"Turn  to  the  places  and  read  them  out  yourself:  you 
will  find  that  the  seventh  chapter  and  fifth  verse  tells 
a  man  to  marry  his  mother,  if  she  be  a  widow,  and 
cannot  procure  another  husband;  and  the  sixteenth 
chapter  and  eighth  verse  says  that  stealing  is  lawful 
to  a  poor  man." 

I  asked  him  in  what  book  these  things  were  to  be 
found  ? 

He  said,  "In  the  New  Testament." 

"But  in  what  book  of  the  New  Testament?" 

He  replied,  "Now  you  are  trying  to  mystify.  The 
New  Testament  is  a  book,  is  it  not?  What  do  you 
mean  by  asking  about  its  books?  You  are  a  tricky, 
dishonest  fellow.  See,  brethren,  how  he  twists." 

"Then  in  what  tract,  or  division  of  the  book?"  I 
asked.  "You  know  that  the  book  is  made  up  of  seve- 
ral small  tracts;  in  which  of  them  are  the  things  you 
have  mentioned?" 

He  said  that  I  was  lying;  the  book  was  not  so 
divided ;  all  he  knew  or  would  say  was,  that  the  ob- 
jectionable matter  was  to  be  found  in  the  chapters 
and  verses  he  had  named;  that  I  could  find  and  read 
them  out  to  the  people  if  I  dared  to  do  it;  and  that 
it  was  all  nonsense  and  trick  to  pretend  that  a  book 
had  more  than  one  chapter  of  a  given  numbering. 

Then  I  said,  "Very  well;  I  will  read  those  verses 
aloud" — and  I  did  so  from  the  gospel  of  Matthew. 

On  this  he  exclaimed,  "  You  are  an  infamous  and 
lying  scoundrel.  You  are  not  reading  from  your  pre- 
tended gospel  at  all." 

On  this  I  appealed  to  several  men,  who  were 
standing  by,  and  told  them  that  they  had  seen,  and 
at  least  partially  read,  the  New  Testament;  and  that 
I  would  leave  it  to  them  to  say  which  of  us  was  the 


.112  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

liar.  He  vociferated,  and  repeated  his  tale.  I  knew 
that  several  in  the  crowd  were  well  aware  that  I  was 
right,  and  I  calculated  on  their  sense  of  honour. 
And  I  also  knew  that  I  must  do  something  decided, 
or  the  greater  part  of  the  crowd  would  believe  him  ; 
and  I  was  very  thoroughly  roused.  Beside  this,  I 
thought  that  this  was  the  time  to  "  answer  a  fool 
according  to  his  folly" — to  "rebuke  sharply."  Ac- 
cordingly I  began,  not  on  a  mere  impulse  of  anger, 
but  by  calculation,  to  pour  out  on  him  a  torrent  of 
rebuke.  He  tried  to  silence  me  by  noise,  and  I  met 
him  with  noise — the  only  time  that  I  ever  entered 
into  such  a  contest.  When  he  became  silent,  I  coolly 
repeated,  that  he  was  a  black-hearted  and  horrible 
liar.  I  showed  the  book,  explained  its  divisions,  and 
proved  to  the  people  that  he  could  never  have  read 
it.  I  pointed  out  the  grossness  of  his  attack;  and 
showed  from  it  that  he  could  be  no  gentleman.  I 
reminded  them  of  his  pretensions  to  learning,  and 
how  ridiculously  he  had  failed  to  make  them  good. 
Then  I  closed  by  saying  that  if  he  had  displayed 
the  tendency,  spirit  and  morality  of  Mohammedan- 
ism, they  had  better  forsake  it.  The  consequence 
was  that  they  refused  to  hear  a  word  from  him  in 
explanation;  told  him  that  he  had  disgraced  their 
cause,  and  hustled  him  out  of  the  ring. 

There  are  two  things  that  helped  to  explain  some 
parts  of  his  conduct.  The  Sunni,  or  orthodox  sect  of 
the  Musalmdns,  accuse  the  Shias  of  holding  the  very 
same  corrupt  doctrines,  which  he  charged  upon  the 
New  Testament.  This  was  the  thing  that  suggested 
to  him  the  charges  with  which  to  interrupt  me. 
And  there  had  recently  been  several  tracts  published 
against  us  and  the  New  Testament  at  Lucknow,  the 
place  of  this  man's  residence,  in  which  the  most  gross 
and  reckless  charges  had  been  made;  and  he  had 
probably  been  reading  them  till  he  thought  he  had 
such  an  idea  of  the  New  Testament  that  he  could 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  113 

appear  to  be  well  acquainted  with  it.  Indeed,  so 
shockingly  false  are  these  Mohammedan  contro- 
versial works,  that  it  would  be  no  wonder  to  find  in 
them  the  identical  charges  which  he  made,  and  the 
same  references  that  he  mentioned.  It  is  a  singular 
fact,  that  this  man,  after  this  scene,  during  his  stay  at 
Allahabad,  attended  my  preaching  several  times,  and 
was  peaceable;  and  even  called  on  me,  and  received 
the  gift  of  a  New  Testament  and  some  tracts. 

On  another  occasion  a  Hindu  said  to  me,  "You  are 
a  great  fool  to  preach  about  Christ.  He  tried  for 
three  years  to  gather  a  sect  of  followers,  and  when  he 
found  his  effort  a  complete  failure,  he  cut  his  throat 
in  disgust."  Another  once  said  tome,  "You  have 
said  to  us  that  our  gods  are  no  gods ;  I  should  very 
much  like  to  kill  you."  In  this  case  a  soft  answer 
completely  disarmed  the  man. 

It  is  very  common  for  us  to  be  told  that  we  are 
liars,  or  that  an  assertion  of  ours  is  a  lie ;  but  we  get 
used  to  this,  and  do  not  regard  it  very  much,  though 
at  first  it  is  hard  for  one  with  the  feelings  and  educa- 
tion of  a  gentleman  to  bear  it  patiently.  We  soon 
learn  that  a  native  opponent  does  not  suppose  himself 
to  be  insulting  us  by  giving  us  the  lie;  amongst  them- 
selves it  is  a  common  part  of  conversation.  And 
they  all  hold  the  doctrine  that  the  end  justifies  the 
means,  and  despise  an  opponent  who  does  not  lie 
when  he  can  do  so  with  good  effect.  Therefore 
they  look  upon  falsehood  as  a  perfectly  natural  and 
justifiable  weapon  in  argumentation,  and  can  hardly 
conceive  of  our  never  resorting  to  it.  They  cannot 
feel  confidence  in  the  asseverations  of  any  man, 
because  they  themselves  are  so  thoroughly  mendaci- 
ous. They  must  have  a  good  deal  of  experience  of 
our  truthfulness  before  they  will  consider  a  profes- 
sion of  it  to  be  anything  more  than  the  greatest  con- 
ceivable falsehood.  This  is  at  first  a  great  disadvan- 
tage in  preaching  to  them. 
10* 


114  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

There  were  two  large  villages  near  my  house,  in 
which  I  preached  oftener  than  in  any  other  near  Al- 
lahabad. The  cross-roads  in  these  villages  were  good 
places  in  which  to  gather  audiences.  But  we  had  to 
stand  on  the  level  of  the  street:  we  were  not  able  to 
hire  a  place  on  either  of  the  corners.  It  would  be  well 
to  purchase  corner  shops  in  such  places,  even  at  twice 
their  value.  At  Agra  ray  experience  in  this  respect 
was  not  different.  I  had  three  favourite  places:  two 
in  frequented  streets,  and  one  at  an  old  gate  of  the 
city,  through  which  many  people  passed  to  get  water, 
and  to  visit  some  temples  outside.  At  both  cities  I 
sometimes  visited  the  temples,  and  talked  to  the  wor- 
shippers. Large  audiences  cannot.usually  be  obtained 
at  these  places,  except  on  festival  days. 

The  other  missionaries  frequently  went  out  to  preach 
in  the  streets  more  than  I  did.  I  do  not  know  that 
their  experience,  or  their  modes  of  procedure,  differed 
from  mine.  I  have  told  my  own  experience,  not  be- 
cause I  suppose  it  to  be  peculiar,  but  as  a  specimen  of 
this  work. 

We  often  also  preached  at  the  gJidts.  These  are 
l-.indings,  or  bathing  places  on  the  river  bank.  Some 
of  them  are  flights  of  stone,  or  brick  steps,  built  by 
rich  Hindus,  "for  a  name,"  or  to  gain  religious  merit. 
Other  ghats  are  mere  slopes  dug  down  through  the 
bank  to  the  water.  These  are  good  places  to  preach 
at  in  the  morning,  because  all  Hindus  go  to  some  one 
of  them  to  bathe  every  morning,  when  it  is  at  all  con- 
venient. Most  missionaries  frequent  them  when  they 
can.  It  is  at  such  places  that  women  can  be  got  to 
hear.  They  will  not  usually  seem  to  attend;  but  if 
if  one  chooses  his  place  judiciously,  they  can  hear  him 
while  they  are  undressing,  or  dressing,*  or  pretending 

*  The  Hindri  women  bathe  with  a  cloth  around  the  loins,  one 
end  of  which  is  drawn  over  the  shoulder,  and  covers  the  greater 
part  of  the  chest.  When  they  come  out  of  the  water,  they  hold  a 
dry  cloth  of  the  same  kind  around  themselves  as  a  screen,  and 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  115 

to  gossip.  This  is  almost  our  only  opportunity  to 
preach  to  the  women  ;  though  I  have  had  an  audience 
of  them  more  than  once,  when  preaching  at  a  place 
called  Alopi  Bagh,  near  the  fort  at  Allahabad.  On 
one  morning  of  every  week,  great  numbers  of  them 
visit  this  place  to  worship  a  form  of  Bhawaui,  or 
Durga,  and  to  bring  sickly  children,  in  the  hope  of 
getting  the  goddess  to  remove  her  evil  influence  from 
them.  But  generally  the  women  are  very  shy,  and 
stand  gazing  at  a  distance. 

Beside  these,  there  were  services  at  the  Chauk 
chapel.  It  is  common  for  missionaries,  who  have 
chapels  in  places  much  frequented,  to  hold  evening 
meetings  in  them.  They  go  to  them  at  stated  times, 
taking  with  them  some  native  Christian  friends,  beside 
the  catechist,  if  possible.  Before  dark  there  is  preach- 
ing and  disputation  in  the  verandah,  similar  to  the 
street  preaching  described  above.  When  it  becomes 
dark,  the  audience  is  invited  to  go  inside  and  sit  down, 
and  listen  to  a  regular  discourse.  The  service  on  these 
occasions  consists  of  reading  the  Scriptures,  singing, 
and  praying.  The  singing  usually  draws  the  people 
into  the  chapel  very  much.  Then  a  sermon  is  deli- 
vered, and  opponents  are  not  allowed  to  speak ;  though 
after  the  service  is  closed,  they  may  ask  questions.  I 
often  went  to  our  chapel  at  the  Chauk  in  this  way. 
This  is  in  some  respects  by  far  the  most  satisfactory 
form  of  preaching ;  though  the  audience  is  very  fluc- 
tuating— the  people  come  and  go  without  much  regard 
to  order. 

Preaching  in  the  villages  around  Allahabad  ought 
also  to  be  mentioned.  This  city  is  placed  like  Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania,  at  the  confluence  of  two  rivers; 
but  only  the  fort  occupies  the  place  precisely  similar 

drop  the  wet  one  while  fastening  the  dry.  They  seem  to  hare  no 
idea  that  there  is  anything  immodest  in  this;  and  the  men,  who 
may  be  near,  are  never  guilty  of  any  rudeness  to  them.  The  cus- 
touia  of  the  country  in  this  respect  are  admirable. 


116  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

to  the  situation  of  Pittsburgh.  The  city  of  Allaha- 
bad is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  fort  on  the 
bank  of  the  Jumna.  The  eastern  suburb,  named 
Kyd  Ganj,  before  mentioned,  extends  down  the 
Jumna  to  within  about  half  a  mile  of  the  fort. 
Above  the  city  and  station  the  Ganges  approaches 
comparatively  near  to  the  Jumna,  and  then  retreats 
from  it,  and  makes  a  long  detour,  before  they  meet 
below  the  fort.  Thus  Allahabad^-  both  city  and 
English  station,  stands  in  a  kind  of  peninsula.  The 
village  of  Kattara,  near  which  the  press  is,  is  very 
near  the  centre  of  this  peninsula.  Besides  the  two 
large  villages,  (forming  in  fact  a  town  of  some  five 
thousand  people,)  that  stand  in  the  centre,  there  are 
about  thirty  of  different  sizes  within  three  miles  of 
the  press.  Some  of  these  villages  are  close  to  the 
back  of  the  city;  some  are  on  the  great  northwestern 
road  that  leads  out  from  the  station ;  some  are  on  the 
bank  of  the  Ganges  in  a  great  semi-circle  on  the 
east  and  north  of  the  station ;  and  some  are  scatter- 
ed here  and  there  throughout  the  area.  The  whole 
space,  except  the  building  spots  and  a  few  ravines,  is 
covered  with  magnificent  fields  and  groves;  even  the 
broad  sand-banks,  left  by  the  river  during  the  dry 
season,  are  at  times  fully  clothed  with  a  luxuriant 
crop  of  melons  and  similar  articles.  This  is  as  great 
a  field  of  labour  as  any  one  missionary  and  a  cate- 
chist  need,  to  keep  them  employed  all  the  time:  they 
could  not  visit  all  these  places  in  the  mornings  of  a 
month.  Through  this  tract  I  preached  as  much  as  I 
could — not  as  much  as  was  needed,  by  a  great  deal, 
but  as  I  had  time,  strength  and  means.  In  some  of 
the  places,  where  the  people  congregated  at  some 
public  sitting  place  in  the  evening,  I  went  at  that 
time;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  places  were  visited 
in  the  morning.  Generally  I  found  an  opportunity 
to  gather  a  congregation  before  the  door,  or  in  the 
yard  of  some  house.  Often  a  great  part  of  the 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  117 

people  were  absent  in  the  fields,  but  some  could 
always  be  found.  One  of  these  villages,  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  the  press,  had  in  it  one  of  our  ver- 
nacular schools ;  and  here  I  always  had  something  to 
do  when  I  could  go.  In  these  places  we  have  to  pro- 
ceed very  much  as  in  the  streets  of  the  city  and 
towns.  The  people  perhaps  are  a  little  less  disputa- 
tious; but  then  they  are  less  intelligent  also. 

For  some  time  I  kept  a  riding  horse,  being  directed 
by  our  physician  to  do  so  on  account  of  a  tendency 
to  disease ;  and  then  I  used  to  talk  with  people  whom 
I  found  on  the  road.  On  some  occasions  this  kind  of 
effort  was  very  successful  as  to  obtaining  hearers. 
On  many  occasions  I  have  had  very  interesting  con- 
versations with  people  on  the  road.  As  specimens  I 
will  here  insert  a  few  extracts. 

"A  decent  looking,  well-dressed  woman  was  walk- 
ing near  me,  with  a  light  walking-stick  on  her 
shoulder,  from  the  upper  end  of  which  depended  a 
small  red  bag.  I  asked  her  what  she  had  in  it.  She 
answered  me,  'My  husband,  Sahib.'  'What?'  said 
I,  'your  husband?'  'Yes,'  she  replied,  'my  lord's 
ashes.'  Strange  as  this  scene  may  seem  to  those  who 
read  this  in  America,  it  was  not  strange  here.  The 
woman  herself,  though  grave,  yet  spoke  calmly  about 
it,  and  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  course ;  and  of  the 
many  people  who  were  near  us,  no  one  made  any 
remark.  1  was  touched  with  a  strange  feeling  of 
respect  for,  and  of  sympathy  with,  the  poor  woman, 
though  what  she  was  doing  was  quite  idolatrous,  and 
could  not  easily  clear  my  throat  to  carry  on  the  con- 
versation." [She  was  carrying  the  ashes  to  throw 
into  the  Ganges,  her  husband  having  died  at  too 
great  a  distance  from  the  river  to  be  burned  on  its 
brink.] 

"  14. — Very  shortly  after  leaving  the  house,  I 
overtook  a  man  who  was  walking  fast,  and  repeating 
Situ  Ram !  Situ  Hum  !  as  fast  us  he  could.  I  asked 


118  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

him  if  he  wanted  anything?  He  said,  Yes;  his  land 
had  become  very  poor;  he  himself  so  devout,  he 
could  not  attend  to  his  business ;  and  his  son  so  bad 
a  manager  that  the  family  was  fast  getting  into  debt; 
and  he  was  calling  on  R&m  for  help.  I  told  him  that 
R&m  came  to  destroy  Rawan,  and  not  to  help  poor 
sinners ;  that  Jesus  was  the  sinner's  friend,  &c.  His 
attention  was  strongly  attracted,  and  he  promised  to 
inquire  about  the  way  I  pointed  out.  Paid  my  whole 
attention  to  him  alone  for  this  morning.  He  lives 
about  fifteen  miles  from  the  city." 

"19. — This  morning  rode  out  on  the  Lucknow 
road.  A  little  way  from  home  overtook  a  party  of 
two  men  and  two  women.  Accosted  them,  and 
learned  that  they  were  from  some  distance  beyond 
the  Ganges,  and  had  never  heard  anything  particular 
of  the  Saviour.  Talked  to  them  about  him,  and 
having  induced  them  to  tell  me  something,  which  I 
knew  very  well  before,  about  their  gods,  I  went  into 
a  comparison  of  them  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

"23. — Overtook  three  Musalmans  from  the  city, 
and  had  a  long  discussion  with  them,  in  which  they 
did  not  hesitate  to  deny  that  passages  which  made 
against  them  were  in  the  Koran.  Left  them  with 
but  little  hope.  Tried  to  get  up  a  talk  with  a  Hindu 
soldier;  but  he  answered  everything  with  a  full  and 
formal  military  salute,  and  a  'Your  honour  knows 
everything.'  Obliged  to  leave  him  without  being 
sure  that  I  had  communicated  one  idea  to  his  mind." 
"Passed  on,  and  found  a  man  and  woman  in  the  road, 
who  told  me  they  were  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
Cawnpore,  and  had  come  down  to  bathe  at  the  junc- 
tion. I  asked  the  man  what  benefit  he  expected 
from  it;  and  he  told  me  his  expectations  were  alto- 
gether indefinite;  he  came  because  all  the  world  came. 
Are  there  not  many  like  him  in  all  lands — guilty  of 
folly  and  sin,  because  they  wish  to  be  like  all  the 
world  ?  He  had  never  heard  of  Christ  before.  His 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  119 

wife  listened,  but  said  nothing.  Several  others  came 
up,  and  I  talked  to  them  till  it  was  time  to  turn  about 
for  home." 

One  of  our  special  forms  of  labour  is  preaching  at 
fairs.  This  is  practiced  by  all  our  missionaries  when- 
ever the  opportunity  offers.  There  are  a  great  many 
minor  assemblages,  all  over  the  country,  for  religious 
purposes.  The  greatest  of  all  is  held  at  Allahabad, 
during  the  Hindii  month  M&gh,  which  falls  in  Janu- 
ary and  February.  An  immense  multitude  of  people 
used  to  assemble  here  to  bathe  on  particular  days  at 
the  junction  of  the  Ganges  and  Jumna.  They  be- 
lieve that  the  Saraswati,  which  sinks  into  the  sands 
before  proceeding  far  from  the  .hills,  here  joins  the 
other  two  holy  rivers,  having  proceeded  under  the 
ground.  A  full  description  of  this  fair  cannot  be 
given  here ;  and  therefore  I  will  content  myself  with 
giving  an  idea  of  the  way  we  labour  at  such  places, 
by  inserting  some  extracts  from  articles  heretofore 
written  on  the  subject. 

"Every  twelfth  year  there  is  usually  a  larger 
assemblage  of  people  here  than  on  other  years ;  and 
as  this  is  the  year  [1847],  we  were  expecting  a  very 
much  larger  meld  than  we  have  had  two  or  three 
years  past;  but  we  were  agreeably  disappointed — 
this  mel&  really  seems  to  be  going  out  of  fashion — 
bathing  at  this  'king  of  junctions'  seems  to  be  less 
esteemed  than  formerly.  When  I  first  came  to  this 
place  the  assemblage  of  people  was  very  great — I 
well  remember  being  almost  crushed  in  the  press  a 
very  little  way  from  our  preaching  place ;  and  four  or 
five  years  ago  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  be  obliged 
to  get  out  of  one's  buggy  two  or  three  hundred  yards 
from  the  embankment  on  which  we  pitch  our  tents, 
because  the  crowd  of  people  was  so  great  that  it  was 
next  to  impossible  to  get  on.  But  there  has  been  a 
regular  and  great  falling  off  ever  since.  It  is 
amusing  to  hear  the  excuses  given  for  this,  at  differ- 


120  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

ent  times,  by  the  Pryagwals  [the  Brahmans  who 
attend  as  priests  at  the  junction.]  One  year  it  was 
the  Gwalior  war;  another  year  it  was  said,  that  the 
pilgrims  from  the  North  and  East  had  suffered  so 
much  from  cholera  the  previous  year,  that  all  the 
people  in  those  parts  were  frightened,  and  kept  away; 
and  last  year  it  was  the  Punjabi  war  that  made  the 
mela  so  contemptible; — what  they  will  say  now,  I 
cannot  guess. 

"To  what  is  this  decrease  in  the  attendance  to  be 
attributed  ?  It  would  be  flattering  ourselves  beyond 
measure  to  believe  that  our  preaching  here  has  been 
the  sole  cause.  But  I  believe  that  this  decrease  is  to 
be  attributed  to  the  efforts  that  are  being  made  to 
enlighten  the  country.  I  take  it  to  be  an  indication 
that  the  preaching  here,  at  Hardwar,  and  other  great 
melas;  at  the  several  mission  stations;  and  in  preach- 
ing tours — together  with  the  distribution  of  books, 
has  not  been  without  effect.  I  shall  labour  with  more 
courage — shall  give  out  books  more  hopefully,  as 
long  as  I  am  permitted  to  remain  in  India,  on 
account  of  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  this  year. 
Last  year  we  could  not  say  confidently  that  the  Sikh 
war  did  not  occasion  the  thin  attendance;  and  the 
natives  told  us  not  to  exult  yet,  but  to  wait  and  see 
the  Kumh  mela.  We  have  seen  it — and  it  is  not 
near  the  average  of  common  years,  at  least,  five  or 
six  seasons  ago. 

"Still  let  no  one  suppose  that  this  fair  was  a 
trifling  matter.  It  was  far  otherwise.  I  went  to  the 
summit  of  the  embankment  at  the  eastern  angle  of 
the  fort,  which  commands  a  good  view  of  all  the 
mela  ground,  and  looked  over  it.  The  junction  this 
year  is  far  below  the  fort,  between  which  and  the 
Ganges  is  a  tract  of  land  measuring,  I  should  think, 
about  a  half  a  mile  (more  rather  than  less)  by  a  mile 
and  a  half;  and  this  tract,  usually  destitute  of  all 
signs  of  human  habitations,  had  been  covered  by  a 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  121 

great  temporary  city,  made  of  grass  huts,  shops  of 
grass  or  cloth,  tents,  faqirs'  enclosures,  &c.;  and  cir- 
culating through  its  dusty  lanes  and  avenues  a  multi- 
tude of  people,  greater  than  are  ever  seen  together 
in  America  on  any  occasion  whatever.  There  was  no 
lack  of  people  to  speak  to,  nor  of  work  to  be  done. 

"Messrs.  Owen,  Freeman,  and  I,  with  our  native 
assistants,  have  been  in  as  constant  attendance  as 
possible.  We  had  two  tents  set  up,  and  have  had 
constantly  a  congregation,  whenever  any  of  us  have 
been  there.  We  have  addressed  them  about  the 
character  of  God,  and  the  worship  he  requires; 
about  the  character  of  man,  and  the  kind  of  Saviour 
he  needs;  about  the  miracles,  instructions,  life,  death, 
and  resurrection  of  Christ ;  about  the  sin  and  folly  of 
idolatry ;  about  the  evil  nature  and  effects  of  Hindu- 
ism, and  the  beauty  and  glory  of  Christianity.  We 
have  made  set  speeches  to  many  attentive  and  crowd- 
ed audiences;  we  have  sometimes  conversed  familiar- 
ly with  some  one  man,  while  scores  of  others  listened ; 
we  have  read  to  them  ;  we  have  set  them  against  each 
other,  and  taken  advantage  of  their  division.  In 
every  way  (except  by  pious  frauds)  we  have  en- 
deavoured to  set  forth,  illustrate,  and  enforce  the 
truth ;  and  0  that  God  would  '  set  it  home'  to  their 
hearts ! 

"  Besides  the  services  at  the  two  tents  at  the  meld 
ground,  brother  Owen  has  been  attacking  the  enemy 
in  flank,  by  having  a  service  every  morning  in  the 
Kyd  Ganj  chapel.  The  road  from  the  city  to  the 
mela  ground  passes  this  chapel,  and  consequently  a 
constant  stream  of  people  was  to  be  encountered 
there.  Brother  Owen  took  Paul  with  him  usually; 
and  generally  two  or  three  old  women,  native  Chris- 
tians, who  live  near,  were  present.  These  women 
are  Roman  Catholics — have  been  drummers'  wives, 
or  something  of  the  sort,  and  now  live  on  pensions 
from  government.  Brother  Owen  says,  that  he 

n 


122  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

usually  gave  out  a  hymn,  which  he  and  Paul  sung, 
and  these  poor  women  joined  them,  making  a  shock- 
ing noise,  but  one  that  very  much  attracted  the 
passers  by — better  than  a  bell. 

"  I  tried  to  take  the  people  on  the  other  flank,  but 
was  not  so  successful.  There  is  a  place  called 
Bhardwaj,  not  a  great  distance  from  rny  house,  where 
nearly  all  the  pilgrims  resort  some  time  during  their 
stay  here.  I  tried  to  preach  to  them  there ;  but  the 
road  is  narrow,  and  was  so  crowded  that  I  could  not 
find  a  convenient  place.  Besides,  a  native  band  of 
musicians,  with  their  frightful  instruments,  had  estab- 
lished themselves  close  by,  and  made  such  an  outrage-' 
ous  noise  that  I  could  make  nothing  to  be  heard, 
except  when  speaking  almost  in  the  hearer's  ear. 

"  We  have  been  assisted  by  the  venerable  Mr. 
Smith,  of  the  Benares  Baptist  Mission,  and  his 
younger  companion,  Mr.  Small ;  Mr.  Drese  and  Mr. 
Ullman,  German  brethren,  at  present  attached  to  the 
London  Society's  Benares  Mission;  and  Mr.  Schnei- 
der, of  the  Agra  Church  Mission  ;  with  their  native 
assistants.  And  one  evening,  after  the  labours  of 
the  day,  we  had  the  pleasure  to  meet  together,  and 
dine  and  pray  together,  a  company  of  sixteen  mis- 
sionaries, including  the  ladies.  Thus  you  see  we  do 
come  across  now  and  then,  a  green  spot  in  this 
otherwise  barren  wilderness. 

"The  people  were,  as  usual,  from  all  parts  of 
Northern  and  Western  India;  and  our  books  are  gone 
with  them  to  their  far  distant  homes.  And  they 
will,  no  doubt,  go  home  and  talk  about  what  they 
have  heard,  and  think  of  it,  and  thus  become  pre- 
pared in  some,  degree  for  the  time  when  the  light 
shall  be  brought  nearer  to  them,  and  when  God,  in 
answer  to  the  prayers  of  his  people,  shall  pour  out  his 
Spirit. 

"  An  intelligent  young  man  from  Bombay  came 
into  our  tent,  and  introduced  himself  as  a  man  edu- 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  123 

cated  in  English.  He  was  a  government  school  man, 
and  therefore  knew  nothing  of  Christianity.  I  had 
a  serious  talk  with  him,  and  he  promised  me  that  he 
would  go  to  brother  Mitchell,  of  the  Scotch  Mission, 
on  his  return  to  Bombay,  and  read  the  Evidences  of 
Christianity.  He  was  ashamed  of  Hinduism — said 
he  was  attending  his  father,  who  was  on  pilgrimage, 
but  that  he  himself  came  to  see  the  country;  and 
finally  confessed,  with  evident  reluctance,  that  he 
was  'accomplishing  the  two  objects  at  once.'  He 
afterwards  called  on  brother  Owen,  and  had  conver- 
sation with  him,  and  examined  the  school. 

"  This  man  told  me  two  interesting  facts.  The 
first  is  that  the  native  Christian  preachers,  of  whom 
you  have  so  often  heard  as  belonging  to  the  Free 
Church  Mission  at  Bombay,  are  most  respectable 
men,  whose  characters  even  now  are  held  in  the 
highest  esteem  by  the  natives  there :  '  they  think 
them  deluded,  of  course;  but  not  rascals.'  These 
are  his  words,  and  contain  a  most  valuable  testimony. 
The  other  fact  is,  that  he  saw  poor  little  Shripat  at 
Poona;  and  that  he  still  wishes  to  be  baptized.  Ever 
since  the  Supreme  Court  at  Bombay  delivered  him 
up  to  his  relatives,  he  has  been  living  separate  from 
them — cannot  be  restored  to  caste.  Let  us  hope  that 
he  will  soon  escape  from  the  snare  of  the  devil,  and 
be  assisted  to  make  an  open  profession  of  attachment 
to  Christ. 

"  Close  to  our  principal  tent  was  a  tree,  on  which 
a  swinging  faqir  was  exhibiting  himself.  Every  day 
he  swung  more  or  less — sometimes  standing,  at  other 
times  head  downwards,  with  a  slow  fire  of  cow-dung 
burning  under  his  nose.  He  had  two  ropes  tied  on  a 
limb  at  some  distance  from  the  trunk  of  the  tree ;  and 
at  the  lower  ends  loops  for  the  feet,  wound  with  red 
cloth.  Sometimes  he  stood  in  the  loops,  and  held  the 
ropes  with  one  hand;  and  sometimes  slipping  his  feet 
through  the  loops,  hung  by  the  ancles.  He  kept  up 


124  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

the  swinging  motion  by  pulling  at  a  small  cord  tied  to 
a  limb  near  the  body  of  the  tree.  This  man  did  not 
seem  stupefied,  as  one  would  suppose  he  must  be,  by 
swinging  with  his  head  downwards.  We  preached 
the  gospel  to  him,  but  he  would  not  regard  it.  On 
one  occasion  a  faqir  of  his  own  sect  went  with  us  to 
him  and  ordered  him  to  come  down,  and  told  him  that 
it  was  shameful  to  be  making  such  an  ostentatious 
display  of  his  devotion  ;  that  if  he  wished  to  make 
tapasiya  he  ought  to  go  to  the  wilderness.  They  had 
a  long  wrangle  between  themselves.  We  tried  to 
teach  both,  but  with  small  success.  The  swinger  told 
us  that  he  was  doing  this  to  obtain  sanctification  of 
heart,  and  assured  us  that  it  was  a  very  successful 
contrivance. 

"I  was  witness  to  a  very  singular  scene  one  day  at 
the  commencement  of  this  mel&.  I  went  down  to 
make  arrangements  for  pitching  the  tent,  and  having 
gone  down  to  look  at  the  bazar  below  the  embank- 
ment, returned ;  when  I  found  all  the  Sanyasis  collect- 
ing on  the  top  of  the  embankment.  Some  Hindu  in 
the  city  had  invited  all  the  sect  to  dinner,  and  they 
were  gathering  to  set  out.  They  had  several  long 
native  bugles  blowing  signals,  and  I  noticed  besides 
a  great  many  other  instruments — amongst  them  an 
English  serpent.  Silver  sticks  were  carried  in  front 
of  the  crowd,  as  before  native  princes.  They  had  a 
very  wild,  and  even  frightful  appearance.  Some  were 
totally  naked;  some  were  dressed  in  about  six  square 
inches  of  cloth  (in  a  narrow  strip)  and  a  string ;  most 
of  their  heads  were  bare,  with  the  hair  long,  matted, 
tangled  and  sunburnt;  one  I  noticed  with  long  hair 
turned  backwards  and  plastered  down  all  over  his 
head  tight  with  light  coloured  clay ;  some  had  caps  of 
every  imaginable  shape,  some  covered  with  brass 
knobs,  brass  plates  and  peacock's  feathers ;  some  had 
instead  of  clothes,  light  clay  rubbed  all  over  their 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  125 

bodies;  others  only  marks  of  the  same  clay  on  the 
body  and  face  ;  some  few  were  well-dressed. 

"This  shocking  crowd  kept  increasing  for  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  and  then  moved  off  towards  the 
city.  I  did  not  count  them ;  but  I  have  often  seen 
regiments  of  soldiers,  consisting  of  one  thousand  men 
each,  marching  and  manoeuvring,  and  noticed  the 
space  of  ground  they  occupy;  and  I  fully  believe  that 
these  men  occupied  closely,  groundjnore  than  sufficient 
to  contain  two  full  regiments  marching  in  close  order: 
from  this  I  judge  that  there  were  at  least  two  thousand 
of  them.  I  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  delightful 
dinner  party  the  city  Hindu  had  chosen  to  entertain. 
Whilst  amongst  them,  I  spoke  about  Christ,  and  they 
listened  better,  and  were  more  mild  than  I  expected. 
There  were  several  boys  amongst  these  people,  and  I 
affectionately  invited  them  to  come  away  with  me  and 
learn  a  better  way;  but  I  have  often  noticed  that 
boys  attached  to  these  sects  show  a  more  hardened 
effrontery  than  the  men. 

"Several  times  it  has  happened,  that  when  we  were 
disputing  with  a  Hindu,  some  man  of  another  sect 
would  take  our  part,  and  maintain  some  part  of  the 
truth  with  great  zeal  and  ability.  The  common  Br&h- 
mans  and  the  Kabirpanthis  often  contradicted  each 
other;  and  one  day  one  of  the  latter  sect  took  up  an 
argument,  and  conducted  it  with  such  ability — so  com- 
pletely prostrated  his  adversary — advocated  so  much 
of  truth  about  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  nature  of 
sin — that  we  were  astonished,  and  could  not  help 
thinking  that  this  man  was  'not  far  from  the  kingdom 
of  God;'  but,  alas!  he  was  as  much  spoiled  by  'philo- 
sophy falsely  so  called,'  as  any  of  them,  only  in  a  dif- 
ferent way. 

"We  have  reason  to  believe  that  some  impression 
was  made  upon  many  minds.  I  noticed  one  old  man, 
several  days  in  succession,  sitting  and  listening  atten- 
tively. I  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  what  he  had 
11* 


126  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

heard;  but  he  denied  being  convinced.  Still,  he  evi- 
dently was  much  interested,  and  perhaps  will  not  settle 
down  into  the  same  state  of  mind  in  which  he  was  be- 
fore. Another  came  to  me,  and  asked  me  where  my 
house  was;  and  said  he  would  come  and  see  me,  and 
inquire  further  concerning  the  doctrine  he  had  heard. 
He  said  he  resided  but  twenty  miles  from  here,  and 
was  often  in  on  business.  I  shall  hope  to  see  him 
again.  One  day,  vjien  I  was  about  to  go  home,  a  man 
came  forward,  and  begged  I  would  stay  a  little  while, 
and  answer  a  question.  He  addressed  me  much  as 
follows :  '  I  know  that  every  man  is  a  sinner ;  I  am 
so;  I  have  tried  every  way  that  the  Pandits  could  tell 
me;  I  have  tried  everything  that  the  Shast4rs  recom- 
mend, in  order  to  get  rid  of  my  sin.  I  was  very  early 
taught,  that  taking  the  name  of  R&m  repeatedly  would 
destroy  my  sins;  and  I  began  to  use  that  name:  day 
and  night  I  kept  muttering,  Rd/m !  Ram !  Rdm !  and 
I  was  told  by  my  spiritual  guide,  that  as  often  as  I 
pronounced  that  name,  so  often  my  sins  were  by  its 
power  cut  away  from  me.  But  when  I  asked  how  this 
could  be  true,  when  I  found  myself  still  so  sinful — 
they  told  me  that  perhaps  I  had  better  try  Krishn. 
So  I  called  upon  his  name ;  but  still  remained  sinful. 
I  knew  that  I  was  sinful ;  I  felt  it  in  my  heart.  Then 
they  told  me  to  make  offerings,  first  to  this  god,  then 
to  that;  but  after  doing  all,  I  still  found  myself  sinful. 
Then  they  set  me  on  austerities':  I  tried  them,  and 
soon  left  them  off;  for  I  found  myself  more  sinful  than 
ever.  Then  they  recommended  pilgrimages,  and  I 
have  made  three  long  ones,  each  of  which  1  was  as- 
sured had  taken  away  all  my  sins;  but  still  I  was 
sinful.  Last  of  all,  I  was  sent  here  to  bathe,  and  told 
that  this  ceremony  is  of  such  power,  that  compliance 
with  it  will  take  away  the  sins  of  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand births.  I  have  bathed,  and  complied  with  all 
requisitions,  but  I  am  sinful  still ;  I  feel  it  in  my  heart. 
Now,  I  have  just  asked  a  learned  Pandit  why  this  is 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  127 

so;  and  he  tells  me,  that  beyond  all  doubt  all  my  sins 
are  pardoned,  but  that  the  seed  of  sin  remains  in  the 
heart.  I  said,  Tell  me  something  that  will  destroy 
that  seed,  or  keep  down  the  awful  growth  of  sin  that 
arises  from  it.  He  told  me,  There  is  no  such  thing; 
as  long  as  the  soul  is 'connected  with  matter,  the  seed 
of  sin  will  remain  in  it !  Now  I  have  heard  you — I  have 
heard  that  those  who  really  regard  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, become  good  men — pure  from  lying,  cheating, 
the  dominion  of  evil  desire,  and  the  like.  Indeed,  it 
is  manifest  that  a  good  Englishman  is  better  than  the 
best  of  Hindus;  and  as  for  the  comparison  of  one 
with  the  other,  your  people  are  immeasurably  better 
than  we  are.  Tell  me,  is  there  any  place  to  which  you 
go,  or  any  ceremony  with  which  you  comply,  or  any 
austerity  which  you  practise,  or  any  particular  mode 
of  worship  which  you  adopt,  or  any  name  which  you 
repeat,  that  has  the  power  to  kill  the  seed  of  sin  in 
the  heart?' 

"  The  poor  man  looked  very  anxious.  I  had  listened 
to  him  in  entire  silence;  his  statement  of  his  expe- 
rience was  so  clear ;  he  seemed  to  have  such  an  uncom- 
monly correct  notion  of  the  'plague  of  his  heart,'  that 
I  was  unwilling  to  interrupt  him.  When  he  was  done, 
I  told  him  that  we  obtain  neither  righteousness  nor 
sanctification  in  any  of  the  ways  he  had  mentioned; 
that  the  sinfulness  of  our  heart  does  not  depend  upon 
our  connection  with  matter,  nor  can  anything  within 
our  power  to  do,  remove  it;  but  the  grace  of  God  is 
freely  given  to  all  those  who  believe  in  and  truly  follow 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  enable  them  truly  to  repent 
of,  and  forsake  their  sins;  that  the  seed  of  sin  remains 
in  pious  Christians,  but  that  its  power  is  manifestly 
broken,  and  day  by  day  grows  less  and  less.  I  then 
entreated  him  to  examine  Christianity;  arid  told  him 
he  would  find  all  that  he  had  been  so  anxiously  seek- 
ing, only  perhaps  in  a  different  form  and  way  from 
\vhat  he  had  expected.  He  promised  me  that  he  would 


128  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

examine;  told  me  his  name  and  residence;  promised 
that  he  would  see  me  again ;  and  as  he  lives  but  thirty- 
six  miles  from  here,  I  hope  he  will. 

"Beside  these  cases,  there  have  been  two  Byragi 
faqirs  inquiring,  but  soon  left.  One  Paramhans  also 
spegit  a  night  with  our  native  Christians,  and  seemed 
interested.  But  nothing,  apparently,  has  resulted  from 
these  cases.  Many,  very  many,  have  appeared  inter- 
ested in  a  lesser  degree. 

"We  have  also  had  opposition:  many  Pandits  have 
entered  the  lists  against  us,  and  brought  forward  their 
philosophy,  and  made  objections  to  our  doctrines; 
and  a  great  deal  of  time  has  been  spent  in  combat- 
ting with  them  such  doctrines  as  that  God  is  the 
author  of  sin ;  that  he  is  a  sort  of  universal  soul,  and 
speaks  in  all,  &c.  Now  and  then  some  saucy  fellow 
has  bluntly  told  us,  '  You  lie,  sir  !'  One  faqir  told 
me,  'Sir,  you  come  here  and  represent  your  own 
deota  (he  meant  Christ,)  as  perfectly  pure ;  and  you 
blacken  all  of  ours;  you  say  they  were  all  sinners; 
and  you  say  that  your  one  is  better  and  greater  than 
all  ours.  I  am  exceedingly  angry  at  you,  sir ;  and  I 
would  much  like  to  have  the  privilege  of  doing  what 
I  like  to  you.  I  hate  you  very  much!'  And  then 
he  gave  me  from  under  his  matted  hair  such  a  glare ! 
I  answered  him — 'Brother,  if  I  hated  you  as  you  say 
you  do  me,  I  would  not  take  the  trouble  to  come  here 
and  offend  you.  It  is  love  that  brings  me  here. 
And  how  have  I  offended  you?  I  have  set  before 
you  a  sinless  Saviour  in  the  place  of  those  who  you 
yourselves  say  committed  sin ;  for  it  is  from  the  Hindus 
and  their  Shastars  that  we  have  learned  the  evil 
doings  of  your  gods;  we  say  nothing  of  ourselves. 
Come,  accept  the  sinless  Saviour;  and  then  you  will 
love  me  as  much  as  you  now  hate  me.'  He  was 
much  softened  by  this  reply,  and  heard  with  patience. 

"Another  time  I  went  down  into  the  enclosure  of 
the  Ninakshaha  faqirs,  and  went  close  to  their  flag- 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  129 

staff,  and  began  to  preach.  They  invited  me  to  wor- 
ship the  flag-staff,  and  were  very  angry  at  me  for 
refusing.  Shortly  after,  they  invited  me  to  go  and 
sit  down  on  their  platform  at  a  little  distance,  which 
I  did,  and  there  preached.  One  man  roughly  inter- 
rupted me,  by  saying,  I  must  not  come  there  to  tell 
them  about  God;  for  God  was  a  lie!  a  dream f1  a 
thought  only  !  I  reproved  him,  and  went  on.  Seve- 
ral of  the  faqirs  were  standing  about,  and  grew  very 
angry — two  or  three  even  went  so  far  as  to  talk  of 
beating  me.  At  last  they  half  courteously  and  half 
peremptorily  invited  me  to  leave  the  platform,  and 
go  to  a  quiet  and  sheltered  spot,  where  we  could  dis- 
cuss some  point  at  leisure,  and  be  sheltered  from  the 
drifting  sand.  As  I  was  suffering  from  the  sand  and 
heat  beyond  measure,  I  gladly  accepted  of  the  pro- 
posal but  the  cunning  fellows  led  me  away  through  a 
weary  tract  of  glistening  sand,  and  taking  their  stand 
in  an  open  space,  where  I  could  not  endure  the  cut- 
ting sand-drift  for  a  moment,  asked  me  to  say  on !  I 
begged  them  to  go  to  a  better  place ;  and  they  said 
no  place  could  be  better — here  was  no  crowd  to  inter- 
rupt us,  and  no  house  nor  business  to  take  up  our 
attention — say  on !  I  told  them  that  I  perceived 
they  were  making  game  of  me;  and  as  I  could  not 
stand  such  exposure,  I  would  leave  them,  though  I 
knew  they  would  raise  the  shout  of  victory  as  soon 
as  I  should  move ;  but  that  I  wished  them  to  notice 
that  I  was  conquered  by  sun  and  sand,  and  not  by 
their  arguments.  And  as  soon  as  I  did  turn  away, 
they  cried  out,  '  Oh !  you  are  beaten  !  Oh !  you  are 
afraid  !' 

"We  have  not  distributed  so  many  books  as  we 
hoped  to  be  able  to  do.  Had  there  been  the  immense 
crowd  of  people  we  were  led  to  expect,  we  were  pre- 
pared for  them ;  but  now  thousands  of  books  we  had 
intended  for  this  occasion  are  left  over  for  some  other. 
\Ve  gave  to  readers  only,  aiid  often  refused  those 


130  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

who  seemed  more  anxious  to  get  a  large  book  than  to 
learn  what  was  in  our  books. 

"But  ray  letter  is  already  too  long,  and  I  have  no 
room  for  reflections.  I  would  only  call  on  all  who 
read  the  Chronicle  to  render  hearty  thanks  for  the 
indication  which  the  occasion  has  afforded,  that  the 
reign  of  superstition  is  in  a  little  degree  broken  up. 
As  I  said  somewhere  before,  I  shall  labour  more 
hopefully  now  than  ever.  Our  religion  is  recom- 
mending itself  more  and  more  every  year  to  the  peo- 
ple. Let  us  give  thanks  and  take  courage. 

"  Postscript — Jan.  30. — This  is  the  last  bathing 
day,  and  I  hasten  to  tell  you  that  the  general  appear- 
ance of  things  is  much  the  same  as  five  days  ago. 

"  Since  that  time  two  inquirers  have  come  to  us ; 
one  at  my  place  and  one  at  the  mission-house.  It  is 
impossible  even  to  guess  how  they  will  turn  out.  I 
have  set  my  man,  who  is  a  Brahman,  immediately  at 
work,  to  earn  his  own  bread,  and  shall  instruct  him. 
I  hope  many  at  home  are  praying  for  us  here;  and 
that  their  prayers  will  be  heard,  and  answered  in  the 
giving  to  us  of  these  men  as  a  spoil  torn  from  the 
grasp  of  the  great  destroyer. 

"  There  has  been  a  great  man  here  from  Multan, 
who  had  got  up  from  Calcutta  an  immense  quantity 
of  cotton  shirting  cloth,  and  has  given  out  to  25,000 
(!)  faqirs  and  Brahmans  five  yards  each.  The  day 
before  yesterday  completed  his  distribution.  He 
gave  also  to  each  man  about  a  pound  of  sweatmeats. 
The  natives  are  wondering  greatly  at  the  great 
amount  of  pun  (merit)  he  must  have  gained.  Of 
course  it  has  afforded  us  an  occasion  of  explaining 
what  is  merit.  But  in  spite  of  all  we  can  say,  the 
greater  part  of  them  probably  still  think  we  are  dis- 
tributing books  and  labouring  for  pun  ourselves. 

"The  natives  tell  me  a  story  about  a  native  gen- 
tleman, that  sent  over  a  ton  in  weight  of  potatoes  to 
one  sect  of  faqirs  here,  (the  Lungaris,  I  believe,)  and 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  131 

that  when  they  divided  them  they  were  only  five 
potatoes  for  each  man;  and  they  were  not  generally 
large  either.  The  consequence  was,  that  the  faqira 
cursed  him  as  a  mean  fellow,  and  no  one  supposes  he 
got  any  pun  at  all. 

"All  the  brethren  from  other  stations  left  us 
immediately  after  the  great  day,  but  we  are  still 
labouring  at  the  Mela  as  usual." 

To  the  above  I  add  a  few  extracts  from  an  article 
published  relating  to  the  fair  of  1850.  So  many 
extracts  would  not  be  given  were  it  not  for  the  fact 
that  they  contain  information  as  to  the  customs,  and 
opinions,  and  religion  of  the  natives,  that  can  be 
communicated  in  no  better  way. 

"This  year  the  mission  determined  to  enlarge,  and 
otherwise  make  more  convenient,  the  tent  in  which 
our  labours  at  the  fair  are  conducted.  The  old  tent 
was  taken  to  pieces  and  reconstructed  so  as  to  be 
eight  feet  high  at  the  sides,  twelve  feet  in  the  middle, 
twenty-four  feet  long,  and  twenty-one  wide.  The 
back,  and  western  end  have  curtains,  to  keep  us  and 
our  congregations  from  being  disturbed  by  the  dusty 
wind.  Behind  the  poles  of  the  tent  and  near  the 
back  curtains  was  placed  a  wooden  platform,  and  on 
it  chairs  for  the  preachers.  At  the  west  end,  against 
the  curtains,  were  two  large  bookshelves,  with  assorted 
Hindi  tracts  and  scriptures.  On  the  9th  of  January 
this  was  set  up  and  has  been  removed  to-day.  Since 
that  day  I  have  been  there  daily,  excepting  two  days, 
from  two  to  six  hours,  with  my  catechist,  who  has 
often  gone  before  me,  or  remained  after  I  left.  My 
young  men  in  the  printing  office  have  spent  the 
greater  part  of  the  Sabbath,  and  of  a  holiday  which. 
I  gave  them,  there,  in  assisting  to  distribute  books. 
Mr.  Owen  and  Mr.  Munnis  have  been  there  with  less 
regularity  indeed,  because  they  were  obliged  to  keep 
the  exercises  at  the  school  going  on — but  so  much  as 
to  do  good  service;  and  their  young  men  have  been 


132  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

engaged  as  mine  were — some  of  them  also  making 
addresses  to,  and  conducting  arguments  with  the 
Hindis  most  effectually.  I  am  sorry  that  we  could 
not  all  be  there  all  the  time — but  the  school  could  not 
be  neglected,  lest,  after  the  demoralizing  excitement 
of  the  mela,  the  city  students  should  either  not  return 
to  school,  or  come  so  dissipated  as  to  be  unfit  for 
study  ;  and  I  was  kept  at  home  every  day  longer 
than  I  wished  by  pressing  business  connected  with 
the  printing  office. 

"  We  are  too  few  here.  Three  of  us,  when  all  well, 
and  having  nothing  to  attend  to  but  our  ordinary 
labours,  can  but  barely  carry  on  those  operations 
that  are  constantly  pressing  upon  us.  If  one  of  us 
were  to  become  sick,  something  urgent  must  be 
neglected.  And  when  extra  work  is  to  be  done,  as  at 
this  fair,  it  causes  neglect  and  injury  to  all  our  opera- 
tions, and  is  itself  not  well  done.  Will  the  Church 
have  us  go  forward,  or  backwards?  If  forward,  then 
she  must  speedily  send  out  men  to  us. 

"But  we  were  not  left  entirely  by  ourselves  in  this 
work.  Mr.  Smith  of  the  Baptist  Mission  at  Benares, 
who  has  been  here  at  every  fair  for  nearly  thirty 
years ;  and  Mr.  Small  of  the  same  mission,  were  here 
for  about  eight  days. 

"Besides  the  preaching  in  the  tent,  when  several  of 
us  were  present,  some  would  take  their  places  at  the 
side  of  the  road,  behind  the  crowd  in  the  tent,  and 
there  gather  another  congregation.  Some  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  shade  of  a  tree  not  far  distant,  and 
soon  were  able  to  collect  a  ring  of  hearers.  Two  or 
three  of  us  took  our  places  together,  and  relieved 
each  other. 

"  The  number  of  pilgrims  has  been  small,  compared 
with  what  it  was  several  years  ago.  It  has  been  fall- 
ing off  for  some  time ;  but  I  do  not  know  that  there 
were  many  less  this  year  than  for  two  years  last  past. 
Our  native  assistants  thought  there  were  less.  But 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  133 

certain  facts  afforded  me  much  gratification.     I  will 
mention  a  few  of  them. 

"  1.  We  have  never  been  treated  so  civilly  by  the 
people  as  this  year.  Only  two  men  and  one  boy,  as 
far  as  I  know,  have  been  rude  or  abusive.  One  of 
them  is  an  ignorant  old  man,  a  religious  beggar ;  one 
the  son  of  a  Brahman  in  the  city,  to  whom  I  declined 
to  give  a  book ;  and  one  a  man  who  has  some  quarrel 
with  the  government,  and  supposed  I  was  its  servant. 
The  people  generally  heard  with  the  greatest  attention 
and  respect;  and,  even  when  they  were  disputing 
earnestly  in  favour  of  their  own  practices,  were  uni- 
formly respectful. 

"  2.  We  found  many  who  were  already  acquainted 
•with  many  of  our  books  ;  and  it  seemed  to  me,  that  in 
this  respect  encouraging  progress  has  been  made. 

"3.  Several  persons  attended  at  the  tent  for  many 
days,  and  showed  a  great  deal  of  interest.  One  read 
through  one  of  our  largest  books,  and  talked  much 
about  it.  Two  others  offered  to  become  Christians  on 
the  spot,  and  came  to  my  house  to  talk  about  it;  but 
I  advised  them  to  examine  the  matter  farther  before 
breaking  caste,  as  I  was  not  satisfied  with  their  know- 
ledge, and  had  some  reason  to  doubt  the  purity  of 
their  motives. 

"4.  A  respectable  looking  man  told  us  that  he  had 
a  brother  at  home,  who  several  years  ago  received 
books,  while  on  a  visit  to  Benares.  He  said  that  his 
brother  had  never  seen  a  missionary  since  he  received 
the  books;  but  that  he  had  left  off  all  the  rites  of 
Hinduism,  and  constantly  told  his  family  and  neigh- 
bours that  there  could  be  no  salvation  out  of  Christ — 
prays  daily  to  Christ,  and  is  honest,  peaceable  and 
happy.  I  asked  him  where  his  brother  lives,  and  his 
name.  He  said  his  name  is  Madan  Mohan,  and  he 
lives  at  the  village  of  Bhanra,  forty  miles  west  of 
Gwalior.  I  asked  him,  'Why  do  you  not  believe  with 
your  brother  ?'  and  he  answered,  '  I  go  with  the  world ; 

La 


134  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

I  have  always  wondered  at  my  brother's  singularity.' 
We  do  not  know  how  many  'hidden  ones'  Christ  may 
be  thus  gathering  to  himself,  who  do  not  make  a  pro- 
fession of  Christianity,  because  they  do  not  know  how 
to  go  about  it. 

"5.  We  have  never  had  so  many  people  inquiring 
about  astronomical  and  other  scientific  facts,  which 
give  the  lie  to  the  sacred  books  of  the  Hindus.  Many 
times  I  have  been  called  on  to  state  the  reasons  for 
believing  the  world  to  be  round,  and  to  show  why  we 
do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  Mount  Meru,  or  the 
seven  concentric  oceans;  and  also  to  explain  the 
theory  of  eclipses.  This  is  a  most  effectual  puzzler 
of  the  Hindus;  for  their  confidence  in  the  Pandits  is 
in  a  great  degree  founded  on  the  fact  that  they  fore- 
tell eclipses  ;  and  the  Shastars,  from  which  the  Pandits 
derive  their  learning,  are  for  the  same  reason  held  in 
the  greatest  veneration  and  esteem.  But  the  Hindus 
are  taught  that  the  moon  is  twice  as  far  from  the  earth 
as  the  sun  is.  Then,  when  we  explain  to  them  the 
true  state  of  the  case,  they  are  much  astonished,  and 
very  incredulous.  But  we  are  able  to  present  the 
subject  in  such  a  manner  as  to  shake  the  blind  faith 
of  not  a  few.  Company  after  company  came  to  me, 
telling  me  that  they  had  heard  that  the  English  say, 
that  certain  scientific  facts  make  their  Shastars  appear 
to  be  erroneous;  and  I  took  great  care  not  to  let  the 
opportunity  slip  to  impress  upon  them  the  reasonable- 
ness of  doubt  about  the  religious  teachings  of  books 
that  manifestly  err  in  matters  of  science  of  which  they 
treat.  I  believe  that  we  in  this  see  the  influence  of 
English  schools  and  European  science — even  of  the 
faint  rumour  of  it  that  is  spreading  through  the  whole 
country,  as  the  twilight  precedes  ihe  rising  of  the  sun. 
And  it  should  be  remembered  that  our  religious  books 
have  not  failed  to  refer  to  these  scientific  errors  of  the 
Shastars,  and  to  call  on  the  Hindus  to  examine  these 
matters  for  themselves. 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  135 

"  6.  Several  of  the  lads  from  our  school  were  pre- 
sent, at  different  times,  and  showed  much  friendship 
to  us,  in  the  presence  of  the  other  natives.  One  of 
them  rendered  me  essential  service  one  day,  in  trying 
the  literary  pretensions  of  those  who  asked  for  books; 
and  he  took  up  an  argument  earnestly  for  us,  when 
assailed  by  others  for  helping  us.  This  boy  has  to 
cross  a  ferry  to  come  to  school:  and  the  lessee  of  the 
ferry  gives  him  a  free  passage.  This,  for  a  Hindii, 
is  great  liberality,  especially  when  we  consider  that 
the  Hindus  know  the  object  and  tendency  of  the 
school. 

"7.  I  heard  a  great  many  of  the  Hindus  speaking 
about  the  tax  that  was  formerly  levied  on  the  pil- 
grims; and  wondering  bow  it  is  that  now  there  is  no 
tax,  the  attendance  should  fall  off.  Such  seems  to  be 
the  fact.  It  would  appear  that  the  bathing-place  has 
lost  something  of  its  importance  from  being  freely- 
thrown  open  to  all.  M[any  ask  if  the  tax  will  not  be 
reiraposed,  and  what  was  the  reason  for  taking  it  off; 
and  when  they  hear  that  pious  people,  through  ab- 
.horrence  of  idolatry,  forced  the  government  to  aban- 
don its  unholy  gains,  their  astonishment  and  curiosity 
are  unbounded. 

"8.  I  do  not  know  that  one  Prydgwa"!  has  ventured 
to  oppose  us  this  year.  They  are  the  Brdhmans  who 
officiate  at  this  bathing-place.  Formerly,  they  used 
to  come  and  order  our  hearers  away,  and  curse  and 
revile  us;  but  they  now  seem  to  have  a  wholesome 
dread  of  the  arguments  levelled  at  them,  and  keep 
out  of  the  way.  Formerly,  long  rows  of  Pandits' 
seats  also  used  to  be  seen,  and  they  were  generally 
surrounded  by  rings  of  people  listening,  who  used  to 
compliment  the  Pandits  with  rupees  and  copper  coin 
in  abundance.  This  year  I  saw  but  few;  and  one, 
whose  table  I  examined,  had  only  some  small  heaps  of 
coarse  flour  and  grain  on  it. 

"  I  might  mention  many  other  little  encouraging 


136  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

circumstances;  but  these  are  enough  for  the  present. 
It  is  evident  that  Hinduism  is  dying;  but  it  is  equally 
evident  that  with  present  means  it  will  last  for  ages 
yet.  And  if  the  process  of  decay  were  more  rapid, 
what  would  be  the  consequence?  what  would  take  its 
place?  It  is  clear  that  there  is  no  instrumentality  in 
this  country,  nor  likely  soon  to  be,  at  all  adequate  to 
build  up  anything  better  in  the  room  of  it,  if  it  were 
soon  to  fall. 

******* 

"May  the  Church  look  at  all  these  facts — and 
pray!  May  theological  students  look  at  this  field, 
and  come  over  and  help  us !  If  both  these  things  be 
done,  how  soon  shall  '  one  chase  a  thousand,  and  two 
put  ten  thousand  to  flight!'  ' 

At  a  later  date  I  sent  the  following  letter  to  be 
published  in  America.  It  is  introduced  here  because 
of  its  connection  with  the  fair  at  Allahabad. 

"I  have  recently  received  a  letter  from  a  friend  at 
Jubbulpore  in  Central  India,  which  contains  the  fol- 
lowing paragraphs,  from  which  those  at  home,  who 
love  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions,  will  learn  that  the 
truth  is  working  its  way  here  in  spite  of  all  obstacles : 
and  that  in  many  cases  there  may  be  a  work  of  grace 
going  on  where  we  least  suspect  it. 

"  'Can  you  let  me  have  an  Old  Testament,  or  even 
Bible  complete,  in  Hindi?  I  wish  very  much  to  give 
it  to  an  old  man,  once  a  high  caste  Brahman  Pandit, 
who  has  flung  off  the  faith  of  his  forefathers  and 
strives  for  the  light  of  truth.  He  would  be  the  first 
fruit  for  any  man  of  God,  who  would  establish  a  mis- 
sion there,  but  he  is  weak  in  his  views  of  things,  and 
needs  assistance.  I  think  he  has  read  just  so  far  that 
he  still  risks  a  shipwreck  of  faith,  and  that  to  prevent 

this,  a  Bible  complete  is  wanted As  yet  he 

has  read  by  scraps  and  odds  and  ends.  He  knows 
much  of  Old  Testament  history,  and  I  have  set  him 
to  studying  the  Psalms.  He  has  many  difficulties  to 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  137 

contend  with  from  man.  His  wife  is  still  a  heathen, 
and  he  tells  me  her  taunts  and  sneers  are  bitter  as 
gall,  and  of  the  grossest  description ;  but  still  he 
keeps  to  her,  and  I  believe  from  real  love.  He  has 
one  child,  an  interesting  little  girl  about  eight  years 
old,  whom  he  has  taught  to  read,  and  instructed  in  the 
Scriptures  as  far  as  he  is  able.  She  is  a  very  inter- 
esting child,  and  has  an  amount  of  character  seldom 
met  with  in  a  native  ;  and  she  apparently  only  requires 
to  be  trained  to  walk  in  the  Christian  path  to  keep  it. 
Naturally  very  quick  and  intelligent,  she  has  become 
more  so  under  her  father's  tuition ;  and  I  should 
really  feel  most  thankful  if  you  could  send  me  down 
a  few  Hindi  tracts  for  this  couple,  suited  to  their 
capacities. 

" '  Strange  to  say,  my  friend  the  Pandit  was  first 
set  to  inquiring,  after  hearing  a  discourse,  about 
eight  years  ago  at  Allahabad,  where  he  had  gone  to 
do  puja  (worship,)  and  to  take  a  dip  in  Tribeni  ji  (a 
title  of  the  sacred  junction  of  rivers.)  He  says  one 
of  your  mission  was  the  man,  but  who  he  cannot  say; 
but  the  gist  of  the  case  is,  that  an  argument  occurred 
between  the  minister  and  some  Brahman  priests,  on 
their  Veds  and  the  Bible,  in  which  they  were  worst- 
ed, and,  as  he  himself  says,  'myself  shaken.'  The 
old  man  has  studied  the  Koran,  and  the  Cazee  here 
has  made  desperate  attempts  fb  convert  him;  but  he 
tells  the  Cazee  to  let  him  know  whence  Mohammed 
obtained  his  laws,  &c.,  so  far  as  they  are  good  for 
anything,  if  not  from  the  Bible.  If  yes,  then  the 
Bible  is  true,  and  the  Koran  is  made  up  of  truths 
borrowed  and  lies  invented,  both  blended  to  de- 
ceive.' " 

"I  will  add  but  little  to  these  paragraphs;  they 
speak  for  themselves.  But  it  is  a  great  encourage- 
ment to  us,  who  cast  our  bread  on  the  waters  here. 
Eight,  years  pass  in  this  case,  and  then  we  hear  of 
the  effect  of  one  of  our  discourses  in  the  old  mela 
12* 


138  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

tent  at  Allahabad.  Each  one  of  our  mission,  who 
was  there  that  year,  may  say,  'Perhaps  that  sermon 
was  mine!'  and  it  is  not  likely  that  we  shall  know 
whose  it  was  till  the  end.  There  is  great  encourage- 
ment in  this  to  labour  at  melas.  In  this  case  the 
truth  was  carried  three  hundred  miles.  Again,  look 
at  the  effect  of  the  smallest  influence  of  the  Bible.  I 
have  never  heard  of  a  Hindu  teaching  a  daughter  to 
read ;  but  no  sooner  does  this  man  take  an  interest 
in  the  Scriptures,  than  his  affections  are  directed 
towards  his  daughter,  as  they  never  otherwise  would 
have  been;  his  prejudice  against  female  learning 
vanishes;  she  acquires  a  character  different  from  that 
of  other  Hindu  girls,  and  altogether  there  is  a  great 
change.  My  informant  is  a  military  officer,  who  is 
not  likely  to  be  imposed  upon.  His  special  duties 
now  are  such  as  to  require  more  than  ordinary  dis- 
cernment and  sagacity.  So  we  may  feel  a  good 
degree  of  confidence  in  his  opinion." 

The  fair  next  in  importance  is  that  held  early  in 
April  of  each  year  at  Hardw&r.  In  1853  I  attended 
at  this  fair,  and  afterward  published  a  short  account 
of  it,  which  is  here  repeated.  Having  given  some 
account  of  my  previous  engagements,  the  article 
proceeds: 

"Being  thus  released  from  the  church,  I  thought  of 
the  mela  at  Hardwar  as  affording  a  place  for  labour 
amongst  the  natives,  the  importance  of  which  is  very 
great:  and  the  expense  of  travelling  in  that  direction 
being  much  less  than  formerly,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  brethren  I  determined  to  attend  the 
fair.  I  accordingly  went  from  Agra  to  Saharunpur, 
and  from  there  went  to  Hardwdr,  in  company  with 
Messrs.  Campbell,  Caldwell,  and  Jamieson.  I  am 
aware  that  accounts  of  the  Hardwar  mela  have  often 
been  published,  and  that  I  may  say  many  things  that 
have  been  said  before;  but  still  the  readers  of  the 
liecord  are  changing  every  year,  and  repetitions  are 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  139 

not  always  profitless.  I  will  therefore  describe  briefly 
our  proceedings. 

"On  the  way  to  Hardwdr,  we  spent  a  night  at 
Roorkhee.  This  is  on  the  great  canal,  which  is  being 
made  by  the  government,  to  run  from  Hardwdr,  to 
lead  the  waters  of  the  Ganges,  down  the  height  of 
land  between  the  Ganges  and  Jumna,  for  the  purpose 
of  irrigating  the  land.  At  Roorkhee  large  engineer- 
ing operations  are  rendered  necessary  by  a  rapid  fall 
in  the  land.  Workshops  were  at  first  established 
here  for  this  reason ;  the  best  practical  engineers 
were  gathered  by  the  same  cause ;  and  this  suggested 
to  the  government  the  idea  of  setting  up  here  a  col- 
lege especially  for  the  training  of  civil  engineers. 
Accordingly  a  large  school  has  been  gathered  here, 
consisting  partly  of  intelligent  and  promising  soldiers 
drawn  from  the  European  regiments  serving  in  this 
country,  and  partly  of  European,  East  Indian,  and 
native  youths,  some  on  stipends,  and  some  support- 
ing themselves.  A  large  station  has  thus  grown  up, 
interesting  from  the  fact  that  nowhere  else  in  this 
country  is  European  science  and  machinery  so  ex- 
tensively exhibited  and  applied.  After  a  cursory 
examination  of  this  place  in  the  morning,  and  a  call 
upon  the  Principal  of  the  college,  we  proceeded. 
Spent  the  night  at  the  house  of  a  young  gentleman, 
one  of  the  superintendents  of  the  canal,  and  the  next 
morning  drove  into  Hardwdr. 

•'I  found  this  place  close  under  the  eastern  extrem- 
ity of  the  Siwalik  range.  This  is  a  low  range  of 
hills,  separated  from  the  mountainous  region  by  a 
distance  of  from  four  to  ten  miles,  enclosing  a  valley, 
called  here  a  dtin,  generally  level.  Through  the 
eastern  end  of  this  valley  the  Ganges,  after  its  de- 
bouche  from  the  mountains,  makes  its  way  into  the 
plains,  turning  the  east  end  of  the  Siwalik  hills.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  Ganges,  other  mountains  closely 
approach  the  river,  giving  it  the  appearance  of  au 


140  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

opening  through  which  the  celebrated  river  makes  ita 
first  debut,  as  it  were,  amongst  the  busy  haunts  of  men. 
This  pass  through  the  hills  may  be  considered  a  gate, 
or  door,  without  any  great  stretch  of  fancy;  and  ac- 
cordingly the  Hindus  call  it  Hari,  (a  title  of  Shiva) 
and  Dwdr,  (a  gate,  or  entrance) — Hardwdr,  the  gate 
of  Shiva,  or,  as  some  say,  of  Vishnu,  for  both  are 
called  Hari.  The  town  is  not  large;  I  should  suppose 
it  contains  not  over  five  hundred  houses  of  all  kinds. 
The  ground  is  very  uneven,  and  back  of  the  town  it  is 
covered  in  places  by  scattered  trees  and  scrubby 
bushes.  Everywhere  are  plentifully  strewed  rolled 
boulders  of  stone,  brought  down  by  mountain  torrents. 
On  the  whole,  it  is  as  comfortless  and  desolate  looking 
a  place  as  one  could  easily  find. 

"We  found  our  tent  just  being  pitched  in  as  good 
a  place  as  the  desolation  afforded,  a  short  distance 
back  of  the  town,  and  near  a  Hindu  temple,  at  which 
resided  some  religious  beggars.  About  three  years 
ago  a  man  was  carried  off  from  this  temple  by  a  tiger. 
Some  little  distance  from  the  tent,  and  close  to  the 
main  road,  we  put  up  the  preaching-tent.  This  has 
a  large  square  top,  with  curtains  hanging  down,  which 
could  be  drawn  out  in  a  sloping  direction  when  desira- 
ble; and  the  sides  were  generally  so  arranged  that 
we  could  be  seen  by  those  passing.  Along  the  back 
part  of  this  tent  our  boxes  of  books  were  arranged. 
Mats  of  a  very  coarse  and  cheap  quality  were  spread 
down  to  induce  our  hearers  to  seat  themselves  and 
hear  leisurely.  The  first  day  was  passed  in  complet- 
ing these  preparations.  The  people  had  not  begun  to 
gather  much. 

"  Towards  evening  Mr.  Campbell  and  I  walked 
through  the  town  to  the  bathing-place.  This  place  is 
not  on  the  main  stream  of  the  Ganges,  but  on  a  lazy, 
shallow  branch,  looking  dirty  and  disgusting,  and, 
though  spread  out  at  the  bathing-place  to  the  width 
of  perhaps  six  perches,  not  more  than  two  in  width  a 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  141 

little  way  below.  The  gMt,  as  a  flight  of  steps  lead- 
ing down  to  the  water  is  called,  is  about  the  width  of 
an  ordinary  street  in  a  town  in  America,  and  consists 
of  about  seventy  steps.  Along  one  side  of  this  pas- 
sage is  a  series  of  small  temples,  the  greater  part  of 
which  contain  only  the  filthy  emblem  of  Shiva.  We 
went  through  some  of  the  passages  connected  with 
these,  and  stopped  in  a  kind  of  balcony  overlooking 
the  bathing-place.  Brahmans  had  wooden  platforms, 
on  posts  long  enough  to  keep  the  boards  a  little  way 
out  of  the  water,  placed  in  the  river,  wnere  they  sat 
to  receive  the  gifts  of  the  faithful,  and  to  touch  with 
their  holy  hands  the  bathers.  Several  people  were 
bathing,  many  of  them  women.  It  was  curious  to 
observe  the  skill  with  which  the  women  managed  the 
slight  clothing  which  they  wore  into  the  water,  so  as 
to  make  very  little  of  an  indecent  exposure  of  their 
persons;  and  the  nonchalance  with  which  men  re- 
garded it  all.  We  saw  neither  curiosity,  nor  imper- 
tinence, which  might  be  supposed  to  be  perfectly 
natural  in  the  circumstances.  How  national  habits 
modify  ideas!  Circumstances  that  in  our  country 
would  cause  women  either  to  be  regarded  with  disgust, 
or  treated  with  uproarious  fun  and  rudeness,  were 
here  witnessed  without  emotion,  and  passed  utterly 
without  remark.  Here  we  commenced  labour;  we 
all  talked  with  some  of  the  people  around  us;  and 
one  of  the  native  assistants  made  a  regular  speech  or 
harangue,  which  was  listened  to  with  good-natured 
patience  at  least. 

"  The  next  morning  we  commenced  regular  opera- 
tions: as  there  were  four  missionaries  and  three  native 
assistants,  we  divided  the  company — two  of  us,  with 
one  assistant,  and  some  books,  took  up  a  position  on 
the  bank  of  the  river,  where  there  was  much  passing 
and  repassing,  under  the  shade  of  a  tree.  The  others 
went  to  the  preaching-tent.  Our  usual  course  was,  to 
commence  a  conversation  with  some  one,  and  thus  in- 


142  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

duce  several  to  stop  and  hear;  then  one  of  us  began 
preaching.  When  one  was  tired,  another  took  it  up; 
and  when  all  had  spoken  once,  we  usually  tried  the 
reading  powers  of  applicants  for  books  and  tracts. 
Afterwards  we  spoke  again;  and  when  we  had  thus 
spent  two,  or  two  and  a  half  hours,  we  went  to  the 
tent,  rested,  wrote  letters,  and  talked;  and  after  an 
early  dinner  went  out  again,  and  did  the  same  thing 
as  in  the  morning.  On  one  occasion,  Mr.  Campbell 
and  I,  with  a/i  assistant,  went  to  the  top  of  the  bath- 
ing-ghat and  preached ;  but  the  crowd  had  by  that 
time  become  so  great,  and  the  noise  so  powerful,  that 
we  did  not  think  it  the  better  place,  though  many 
more  crowded  about  us  to  hear,  than  at  other  places. 
Besides  the  regular  harangues,  or  sermons,  as  they 
may  be  called,  we  had  frequent  conversations  and 
discussions.  The  time  was  well  employed.  The  at- 
tendance of  the  people  on  the  preaching  was  good, 
and  we  had  usually  as  many  gathered  around  us  as 
could  hear.  There  was,  as  there  always  is,  a  good 
deal  of  coming  and  going  amongst  our  hearers;  but 
generally  the  greater  part  would  stand  or  sit  through 
our  sermons.  Some  came  repeatedly,  a  few  to  dis- 
pute, and  many  with  seeming  real  desire  to  hear. 

"For  nine  days  we  followed  this  course.  The  peo- 
ple were  increasing  till  the  last:  they  would,  however, 
scatter  away  fast  on  the  day  that  we  left.  Our  last 
day  was  the  Sabbath,  April  10th.  We  had  a  solemn 
closing  service  in  the  preaching-tent;  discourses  were 
delivered,  reviewing  what  we  had  taught  the  people; 
particular  instructions  and  exhortations  were  given 
to  those  who  had  attended  often ;  and  the  services 
were  closed  by  a  public  prayer.  As  I  stood  on  a 
box,  offering  that  prayer,  I  could  not  help  thinking 
how  comforting  was  the  thought,  that  in  some  parts 
of  the  world  God's  people  might  be  offering  their 
supplications  in  the  sanctuary,  and  remembering  us; 
and  I  also  wished  that  the  time  might  soon  come, 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  143 

•when  churches  and  ordinances  shall  give  the  heathen 
more  opportunities  of  witnessing  the  decencies  and 
beauties  of  true  worship." 

I  have  attended  several  minor  fairs,  continuing 
from  one  to  three  days ;  but  the  nature  of  our  work 
at  those  places  does  not  materially  differ  from  that 
above  described,  and  my  space  will  riot  allow  any 
description  of  them  to  be  given,  beyond  the- following, 
•which  is  too  singular,  and  too  little  known,  to  be 
suppressed. 

Behind  the  English  station  of  Agra  there  is  a 
place  of  great  Musalmdn  sanctity.  They  have  a 
stone  there,  in  which  they  say  is  an  impression  of 
Mohammed's  foot.  They  call  it  Qadam  ar-Rasul, 
the  Foot  of  the  Apostle;  Qadam  i  muba"rak,  the 
Blessed  Foot;  and  Qadam  i  sharif,  the  Honourable, 
or  Exalted  Foot.  The  word  qadam  may  also  be 
rendered  footprint.  The  stone  containing  this  pre- 
cious relic  is  kept  in  what  nearly  corresponds  to  a 
Roman  Catholic  monastery.  There  is  a  square  of 
about  sixty  yards  on  a  side,  the  whole  front  a  mass 
of  buildings  of  two  low  stories,  and  the  other  three 
sides  a  high  dead  wall:  this  is  the  external  appear- 
ance. The  interior  of  this  square  is  filled  up  to  the 
height  of  the  first  story  of  the  front,  and  paved  with 
flagstones.  The  rooms  in  the  lower  story  have, 
consequently,  no  doors  or  windows  behind,  being 
merely  separate  apartments  for  travellers  who  may 
choose  to  lodge  there,  and  are  entered  from  the 
front.  In  the  centre  of  tie  front  a  staircase  leads 
up  to  the  paved  area.  This  also  gives  access  to  the 
upper  story  of  the  front,  which  is  divided  into  rooms 
with  balconies.  These  are  for  a  higher  class  of  visit- 
ors, and  for  the  beggars  who  own  the  place.  All 
around  the  other  three  sides  of  the  quadrangle,  fac- 
ing the  paved  area,  are  cloisters  built  against  the 
wall — a  shallow  verandah  with  little  rooms.  In  the 
centre  of  the  area  is  a  small  temple,  shaped  precisely 


144  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

like  the  most  common  Hindu  temples,  in  which  the 
Blessed  and  Honourable  Footprint  is  kept,  and  wor- 
shipped with  all  the  ceremonies  that  Hindus  use. 
Not  the  low  and  ignorant  Mohammedans  only,  but 
multitudes  of  the  intelligent  also,  worship  this  sense- 
less lie;  and,  which  is  singular,  it  is  an  object  of 
great  regard  to  the  Hindus.  Here  the  proud  and 
fierce  monotheist  bows  down  to  a  stone  beside  the 
besotted  polytheist;  and  the  learned  and  the  ignorant 
hustle  and  push  one  another.  Mr.  Fullerton  went 
out  with  me,  and  we  spent  two  days  there  at  the 
time  of  the  annual  meld.  People  worship  there 
at  all  times ;  but  there  are  two  or  three  special  days 
on  which  thousands  assemble.  We  preached  a  great 
deal.  One  of  the  days  was  Sunday,  and  we  laboured 
all  the  time  we  could  speak.  A  singular  circum- 
stance that  occurred  here,  will  illustrate  some  of  our 
difficulties.  We  were  speaking  of  the  way  of  obtain- 
ing justification,  and  I  quoted  Gal.  iii.  13,  "  Christ 
hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being 
made  a  curse  for  us."  The  men  immediately  around 
us  were  intelligent  and  educated.  One  of  them 
instantly  said,  "That  is  blasphemy:  Jesus,  on  him 
be  peace!  is  the  greatest  of  all  prophets,  save  the 
blessed  apostle  Mohammed,  on  him  be  peace ! — and 
to  say  that  he  was  made  a  curse,  is  to  charge  God 
with  injustice  and  folly,  and  to  treat  the  name  of  a 
prophet — on  him  be  peace  ! — with  contumely  and 
scorn.  You,  sir,  profess  to  be  his  follower,  and  yet  say 
such  a  horrible  thing  about  him."  I  explained  ;  but  no 
sooner  had  I  come  to  anything  like  an  expression  of 
the  idea  that  he  was  the  substitute  for  his  people, 
and  accursed  in  their  stead,  than  my  opponent  broke 
out  with,  "  Refrain,  sir !  I  am  well  disposed  to  treat 
Christians  with  some  regard  as  '  people  of  a  book,' 
and  you  personally  as  one  who  seems  to  wish  to  be 
civil  and  kind;  and  you  must  not  utter  such  a  slander 
of  a  prophet — on  him  be  peace ! — lest  I  should  forget 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  145 

myself,  and  draw  my  sword  on  you,  and  you  be  mas- 
sacred by  my  justly  indignant  brethren."  Here  was 
a  dilemma.  To  be  reproved  by  a  Mohammedan  for 
treating  my  own  dear  Saviour,  whose  cause  I  was 
maintaining,  with  disrespect,  was  something  new.  I 
had  often  heard  the  doctrine  objected  to ;  but  never 
before  had  I  known  this  peculiar  turn  given  to  it.  I 
avoided  the  term  that  they  objected  to ;  but  went  on  to 
talk  of  the  doctrine  of  substitution,  and  to  illustrate 
it  from  the  Old  Testament,  till  after  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening. 

There  is  a  stone  of  this  kind  near  Allahabad,  in  a 
temple  like  that  described  above,  but  in  a  much  less 
sumptuous  enclosure.  Formerly  it  was  venerated  as 
much  as  that  at  Agra ;  but  during  the  last  generation 
the  revenues  have  fallen  off,  and  the  heirs  of  the 
property  have  become  troopers  in  the  English  army, 
leaving  their  shrine  to  neglect.  But  it  is  very  likely 
that  some  one  will  by  and  by  pretend  a  miracle  at 
this  place,  and  thus  restore  its  credit,  and  get  it  again 
into  public  favour.  This  stone  I  have  more  than 
once  examined.  The  foot-print  is  so  clumsily  made 
that  it  is  a  wonder  that  the  most  ignorant  and  unre- 
flecting cannot  see  that  it  is  artificial.  The  one  at 
Agra  I  did  not  examine,  because  they  would  not 
allow  me  to  go  inside  the  temple  with  my  boots  on. 

There  are  at  Agra  several  descendants  of  Greek, 
Syrian  and  Armenian  Christians.  Their  blood  is 
very  freely  mixed  with  Hindustani,  but  they  are  still 
known  by  their  national  names.  In  the  house  of  one  of 
these  I  preached  in  Hindustani  on  Sabbath  mornings. 
The  audience  consisted  of  his  family,  the  family  of 
our  catechist,  the  servants  of  our  own  and  a  few  other 
families,  a  few  native  Christians,  and  an  irregular 
number  of  the  Orientals  above  named.  An  interest- 
ing fact  is  connected  with  these  people.  Shortly 
after  Mr.  Perkins  and  his  companions  reached  Oor- 

13 


146  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

omiah,  in  Persia,  a  Nestorian  of  that  region  went  to 
India  to  seek  his  fortune,  and  has  remained  there 
ever  since,  residing  at  Agra  for  several  years  past. 
He  has  maintained  a  correspondence  with  his  people 
at  home,  and  received  accounts  of  what  the  mission- 
aries to  the  Nestorians  were  doing  and  teaching. 
The  accounts  struck  him  favourably.  He  had  an 
opportunity  in  India  also  of  learning  what  Protest- 
antism is.  Then  he  became  intimate  with  the  Arme- 
nian family,  in  whose  house  I  afterward  set  up  Hin- 
dustdni  worship,  and  told  them  so  much  about  what 
he  had  heard  that  they  too  became  Protestant. 
The  children  of  both  families  are  now  being  brought 
up  at  Protestant  schools  aud  churches.  No  facts 
could  more  forcibly  illustrate  the  far-reaching  effects 
of  missions. 

In  addition  to  the  modes  and  opportunities  of 
preaching  above  mentioned,  we  are  often  able  to  pro- 
claim the  gospel  to  visitors  at  our  houses.  A  great 
many  used  to  call  on  me,  and  many  interesting  facts, 
connected  with  their  visits,  our  conversations,  and 
visits  made  by  me  in  return,  might  be  added; 'but 
this  chapter  is  long  enough.  They  who  read  it  will 
fully  understand  our  modes  of  preaching  at  our 
stations.  It  will  also  be  seen,  that  the  missionary 
force  is  at  no  place  adequate  to  perform  the  work  we 
have  to  do.  It  is  my  most  earnest  desire  that  one 
effect  of  this  book  may  be,  to  convince  the  churches 
that,  however  much  we  have  already  done,  it  is  still 
miserably  inadequate  to  the  great  end  proposed. 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  147 


CHAPTER  VI. 


ITINERATIONS. 


THE  subject  of  this  chapter  is  related  to  that  of  the 
preceding — both  are  on  preaching,  our  main  work,  and 
that  which  is  most  delightful.  During  the  cool  season, 
from  the  first  of  November  to  the  first  of  March,  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  travelling  about  the  country;  and 
this  period  may  be  made  a  month,  or  even  two,  longer, 
without  any  very  great  inconvenience.  During  this 
time,  all  missionaries  desire  to  do  what  can  be  done 
towards  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  parts  of  their  dis- 
tricts which  cannot  be  reached  when  they  reside  at 
their  stations.  The  only  way  of  accomplishing  this 
work  is  by  itinerations. 

All  persons  who  have  read  the  journals  of  missiona- 
ries in  Upper  India,  written  on  journeys  for  preaching, 
will  remember  that  we  usually  travel  with  tents;  and 
all  will  perceive,  that  when  travellers  use  tents,  their 
movements  will  be  restricted  and  expensive.  Now,  as 
this  book  is  written  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  all 
readers  to  understand  our  whole  situation,  and  modes 
of  action,  we  will  first  look  into  a  missionary's  march- 
ing establishment,  and  set  forth  the  reasons  for  using 
it,  and  each  part  of  it.  • 

There  are  no  hotels  in  India.  A  few  at  the  princi- 
pal English  stations,  on  the  main  road  leading  through 
the  country,  are  an  inconsiderable  exception.  There 
is  nothing  like  the  numerous  taverns  on  all  roads  in 
America.  Two  substitutes  for  them  may  be  mentioned. 
The  first  is  the  Dak  Bungalow,  or  staging-house.  These 
houses  are  built  by  the  government;  and  a  cook,  and 
one  or  two  other  servants,  are  paid  to  remain  there, 
and  serve  travellers,  who  are  charged  each  one  rupee 
a  day  for  the  house  and  servants,  and  furnish  their 


148  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

own  food.  Each  room  has  a  table,  a  bedstead,  and  a 
few  chairs,  but  no  bedding,  towels,  &c.  They  are  built 
at  distances  of  about  forty  miles,  on  some  roads,  to 
accommodate  those  who  travel  with  relays  of  bearers, 
that  distance  being  about  what  is  convenient  for  one 
night.  On  some  other  roads,  they  are  from  twelve  to 
sixteen  miles  apart,  and  intended  to  encourage  travel- 
ling without  tents  by  those  who  move  with  their  own 
private  conveyances.  But  they  are  often  placed  far 
from  the  villages,  and  are  not  suitable  for  the  purposes 
of  the  missionary,  who  wishes  to  stop  where  most 
people  are  to  be  found.  They  are  so  numerous  only 
on  the  Grand  Trunk  road  and  one  of  its  branches. 

The  second  substitute  for  taverns  is  the  Sard — the 
caravansary  of  European  travellers.  These,  in  India, 
are  walled  enclosures,  with  huts  around  the  inside  of 
the  walls.  They  are  usually  frequent  enough  to  an- 
swer our  purposes  on  the  principal  roads,  if  that  were 
all,  as  no  distance  of  ten  miles  is  often  without  one. 
In  them  will  be  found  a  seller  of  flour  and  grain,  one 
of  wood,  and  some  Bhathiyaras,  or  Musalman  cooks, 
who  will  furnish  native  food  to  any  who  will  eat  it  at 
their  hands.  These  places  are  generally  built  by  land- 
holders, who  receive  rent  from  the  Bhathiyaras,  and 
secure  a  considerable  market  for  grain,  wood,  straw, 
clarified  butter,  &c.  The  Bhathiy&ra  derives  his  in- 
come from  the  fees  paid  by  travellers.  Every  ox,  or 
horse,  or  vehicle,  or  traveller,  pays  a  trifle  for  being 
allowed  to  spend  the  night  within  the  walls.  Each 
person  who  takes  an  apartment,  pays  for  that;  bed- 
steads are  rented,  and  a  profit  is  made  on  food.  We 
might  halt  in  these  places,  if  they  were  better.  But 
the  apartments  are  mud  hovels,  with  only  a  door  and 
tiled  roof,  hot,  and  disagreeable.  The  yard  nearly 
resembles  an  American  barnyard,  and  is  used  for  many 
of  the  same  purposes.  It  is  filled  with  all  kinds  of 
people — riotous,  quarrelling,  and  obscene — each  cook- 
ing over  his  separate  fire ;  and  too  often  bad  women 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  149 

and  their  visitors  make  up  a  large  part  of  the  com- 
pany. A  regard  to  either  health  or  character  will  not 
allow  us  to  occupy  them.  Thus  we  usually  have  no 
choice,  but  are  obliged  to  carry  tents. 

The  unsocial  system  of  caste  entirely  prevents 
strangers  from  using  private  houses  or  articles  of  fur- 
niture. Hinduism  utterly  destroys  every  fragment 
of  the  virtue  of  hospitality ;  and  so  does  caste-infected 
Mohammedanism,  such  as  is  found  in  India. 

Sometimes  the  missionary  travels  without  his  fam- 
ily, when  two  very  small  tents  will  answer  his  purpose; 
but  if  his  family  be  with  him,  the  tents  need  to  be 
larger.  Those  that  I  had  at  last  were  each  thirteen 
feet  square.  There  must  be  two  of  them,  because  it 
takes  the  greater  part  of  a  day  to  strike,  remove  to 
the  next  stage,  and  pitch  one;  and  we  cannot  be  with- 
out shelter  in  the  mean  time.  I  never  had  any  doubt 
of  the  propriety  of  carrying  my  family  with  me,  when- 
ever its  circumstances  allowed  me  to  do  so.  They, 
who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  effect  of  living  in 
tents,  and  marching  a  few  miles  frequently,  in  the 
cold  season  of  Upper  India,  would  be  astonished  at  the 
marvellous  rapidity  of  the  improvement  that  takes 
place  in  the  health,  after  the  system  has  been  debili- 
tated by  the  long  months  of  heat.  I  am  fully  per- 
suaded that,  had  not  my  health  and  that  of  my  fam- 
ily been  assisted  by  this  process,  we  could  never  have 
remained  in  India  as  we  did.  It  costs  a  little  more 
than  for  a  man  to  go  alone,  but  not  much;  and  it 
saves  him  from  taking  his  horse  altogether  away  from 
his  family,  leaving  them  imprisoned  for  want  of  it; 
and  it  also  saves  him  from  the  expense  of  a  divided 
household  and  two  tables,  which  his  salary  cannot 
usually  bear.  Besides  these  considerations  it  should 
be  remembered,  that  expeditions  of  "this  sort  afford  a 
missionary  lady  almost  her  only  opportunity  for  mov- 
ing about,  and  escaping  from  the  monotony  of  a  place, 
•which,  however  long  she  may  live  in  it,  never  seems 
13* 


150  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

to  be  home;  since,  however  much  attached  to  her  fam- 
ily and  work,  her  heart  will  always  turn  towards  the 
privileges,  the  friends,  and  the  churches  of  her  native 
land. 

Two  carts  are  necessary  to  carry  the  tents.  With 
one  the  articles  required  at  night  are  sent;  and  with 
the  other  the  food,  table  and  its  furniture,  cooking 
utensils,  &c.  The  usual  plan  of  moving  is  this: — 
After  dinner,  about  three  o'clock,  the  dishes,  cooking 
utensils,  and  day  furniture  generally,  are  packed  up 
and  sent  forward  with  one  tent.  The  cook  usually 
goes  with  it.  The  boxes  of  clothes  and  tracts  are  so 
divided  as  to  make  the  loads  as  equal  as  possible. 
This  load  is  carried  forward  to  the  next  halting  place, 
previously  fixed  upon  as  near  as  may  be,  and  proba- 
bly arrives  after  dark.  The  people  choose  a  place 
under  some  trees,  or  where  they  may  find  the  best 
accommodation,  and  sleep  without  unloading  the  cart. 
This  is  done  early  in  the  morning,  the  tent  set  up, 
the  cook  proceeds  to  make  breakfast  acccording  to  an 
order  previously  given,  and  the  table  is  set  up,  and 
the  chairs  dusted. 

After  the  one  tent  is  sent  away  in  this  manner  in 
the  afternoon,  the  missionary  and  catechist  go  out  to 
a  village;  and,  if  they  are  not  far  apart,  two  may  be 
visited  and  preached  to  before  dark.  Then  they  re- 
turn, and  find  a  tea-kettle  singing,  and  some  cups, 
and  bread  and  butter,  which  are  kept  behind  for  the 
night,  all  laid  out.  The  table  is  probably  set  up  out- 
side of  the  tent,  and  the  stars  look  down  on  us,  while 
the  coolness  and  freedom  of  the  open  air,  in  such 
strong  contrast  with  the  hot  weather  arid  closed 
house  which  we  have  so  recently  felt,  are  highly  en- 
joyed. After  tea  a  slow  walk  under  the  mango  trees, 
or  on  the  open  plain,  as  the  case  may  be,  or  a  talk 
with  visitors,  closes  the  action  of  the  day.  While  the 
gentleman  is  gone  to  the  villages  in  the  afternoon,  the 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  151 

lady  has  the  tent  transformed  from  sitting-room  to 
bedroom. 

In  the  morning  the  family  leaves  the  ground  early, 
in  the  buggy,  and  the  catechist  on  his  pony;  and  they 
arrive  about  the  time  the  advanced  tent  is  ready  for 
their  reception.  Breakfast  and  morning  worship  al- 
most inmmediately  follow.  The  missionary  and  cate- 
chist then  go  out  to  the  villages,  and  visit  one  or  more, 
as  the  sun  and  the  distances  allow.  When  they  return 
the  cook  will  have  got  the  catechist's  breakfast  ready. 
The  natives  all  like  to  eat  a  slight  meal  about  noon, 
and  rarely  touch  anything  earlier.  The  catechist  will 
have  his  dinner — almost  his  whole  day's  eating — in 
the  evening,  later  than  we  usually  have  our  tea.  After 
returning  from  the  forenoon  duty,  we  rest,  read,  write, 
or  receive  visitors,  until  dinner.  In  many  places,  all 
the  persons,  who  have  any  claim  to  be  called  gentle- 
men, will  come  to  see  us.  We  then  spread  a  thick 
carpet  under  a  tree,  and  invite  them  to  sit  down ;  and 
generally  have  a  long  conversation  on  religion,  and 
give  them  tracts  and  Scriptures.  The  head  policeman 
of  the  neighbourhood  comes,  and  requests  orders,  as 
to  provisions,  watchmen,  or  anything  that  we  may 
require ;  though  in  most  places  all  that  he  can  supply 
us  with  is  coarse  flour.  Schoolmasters  come  to  beg 
tracts  for  their  boys  to  read,  and  often  bring  a  number 
of  their  cleverest  boys  to  show.  Their  parents  would 
be  very  unwilling  that  their  boys  should  be  Christians ; 
but  if  they  can  save  a  few  cents  by  begging  Christian 
tracts  for  reading  books,  instead  of  buying  something 
else,  they  will  take  the  risk.  Sometimes  the  tent  is 
surrounded  with  visitors,  and  we  are  prevented  from 
having  the  least  quiet  before  eight  or  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening. 

I  ought  also  to  say,  that  on  many  of  these  tours,  a 
march  is  not  made  every  day.  The  tents  are  pitched 
in  some  place  where  several  villages  are  near,  and  the 


152  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

gospel  is  preached  in  a  circle  of  them  for  two  or  three 
days;  after  which  another  such  circle  is  sought  for. 

The  furniture  that  is  carried  on  these  occasions  is 
all  made  especially  for  this  purpose.  Common  tables 
and  chairs  would  soon  have  all  their  legs  knocked  off; 
and  therefore  everything  is  made  to  fold  up.  In  this 
way  the  articles  occupy  less  space.  They  are  coarse 
and  cheap;  for  anything  handsome  would  immediately 
have  all  its  beauty  rubbed  off. 

This  description  of  itinerating  will  certainly  appear 
very  attractive  to  any  person  who  reads  it ;  but  it 
should  be  remembered,  that  all  the  complicated  ar- 
rangements described  are  liable  to  accident  and  con- 
fusion. The  stupidity  of  a  servant,  the  breaking  of  a 
cart,  the  sickness  of  an  ox,  and  misinformation  as  to 
the  route,  are  constantly  causing  annoyances,  that 
need  to  be  experienced  to  be  understood;  and  yet  it 
is  pleasant  to  go  out  in  this  way.  On  my  return  to 
India,  I  hope  it  may  please  God  to  allow  me  to  spend 
all  of  every  cold  season  in  this  work. 

And  now,  that  the  whole  matter  may  be  understood 
as  far  as  possible,  extracts  from  my  accounts  of  itine- 
rating, heretofore  published,  will  be  inserted  here. 
These  extracts  are  somewhat  numerous,  because  they 
are  intended  to  give  examples  of  all  kinds  of  our  expe- 
rience, together  with  incidental  information  concerning 
the  people,  their  manners  and  ideas. 

"We  marched  from  Futtehpore  to  Arapore.  Here 
we  met  Mr.  C.,  who  is  taking  up  his  children  to  Bareil- 
ly.  Ilis  wife  came  to  Allahabad,  where  her  rela- 
tives lived,  last  year,  and  there  died  of  consumption. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Providence,  I  was  permitted 
to  be  useful  to  her  during  her  sickness.  I  trust  she 
was  a  true  Christian  before  her  illness;  but  she  was  in 
much  darkness,  and  doubt,  and  fear;  and  it  was  my 
privilege  to  visit  her  many  times,  arid  lead  her  into  the 
green  pastures,  and  beside  the  still  waters.  She  died 
in  great  peace,  leaving  to  her  friends  a  sweet  hope 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  153 

that  she  rests  in  Jesus.  Her  husband  was  with  her 
the  last  fortnight  of  her  life,  and  was  much  struck 
with  what  he  saw ;  and  his  impressions  resulted,  as  I 
think,  in  true  conversion.  I  have  had  letters  from  him 
since,  which  have  given  me  great  pleasure  ;  and  the 
interview  of  to-day  has  been  very  satisfactory.  He 
seems  fully  sensible  of  his  sinfulness,  and  speaks  with 
delight  of  the  love  of  Christ.  He  is  in  a  position  to 
give  him  influence  among  his  class;  and  I  hope  the 
good  already  done  will  by  no  means  stop  here.  My 
conversation  with  him  prevented  my  going  out  to 
preach." 

"  Sabbath. — Arrived  at  this  place,  Etawah,  last 
evening.  This  morning  early  went  to  the  masonry 
landings,  of  which  there  are  several  here,  and  at 
which  many  people  were  bathing,  and  read  and 
preached  to  a  good  audience  for  about  an  hour.  My 
preaching  place  was  the  platform  of  a  Brdhman,  who 
sits  here  to  furnish  worshippers  with  several  little 
things  that  they  require.  He  had  a  small  stone,  on 
which  he  ground  sandal-wood,  a  little  of  the  powder 
of  which  is  often  thrown  into  the  river  as  an  offering, 
and  often  carried,  by  those  who  have  finished  their 
bath,  up  to  the  temples  of  Mahadeo  on  the  bank  of 
the  stream,  to  be  used  in  a  little  worship  of  him,  which 
they  take  occasion  to  do  as  they  return  home. 
He  had,  also,  preparations  of  chalk  and  red  lead  for 
those  who  required  to  renew  their  tilaks,  signs  of  the 
idol  or  incarnation  specially  followed  by  the  worship- 
pers, or  of  the  peculiar  subdivisions  of  their  sect. 
There  were  metal  stamps  also,  to  assist  in  making 
these  marks,  many  of  which  are  too  complicated  to  be 
readily  made  in  any  other  way.  Those  who  required 
his  assistance  gave  him  what  they  pleased — some  a 
very  little  grain,  some  a  few  cowries,  and  some  gave 
each  a  copper.  He  was  very  affable,  and  afforded  me 
all  the  facilities  for  being  heard  that  I  desired.  A 
Brahman  who  stood  by,  took  a  tract  at  my  request, 


154  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

and  read  a  page  or  two  to  the  people.  A  Ndnak- 
shahd  fakir  took  my  part,  and  testified  to  the  earthly 
origin  of  the  Ganges  and  Jumna,  when  I  asserted  it. 

"After  breakfast  went  into  the  centre  of  the  native 
city,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  river.  Talked 
to  several  groups  of  people;  furnished  a  Mohammedan 
school  with  a  few  books,  which  the  teacher  promised 
to  read  and  allow  his  pupils  to  read.  Did  the  same 
to  a  Hindu  school,  on  the  same  conditions. 

"Several  people  came  to  us  in  the  course  of  the 
day  for  books.  At  one  time  I  had  so  many  present 
that  I  went  out  and  sat  down  in  the  shade,  arid  had  a 
good  deal  of  talk  with  them." 

"In  the  afternoon  we  went  to  a  market  at  the  east- 
ern end  of  the  city ;  but  found  that  it  was  not  fre- 
quented ;  and  though  nicely  built,  a  failure.  We 
walked  up  into  the  city,  and  preached  to  a  very  good 
audience  near  where  we  first  preached  here  the  other 
day.  The  audience  were  uncommonly  solemn  and 
attentive;  the  young  man  who  called  me  an  infidel 
the  other  day  was  present,  and  perfectly  quiet,  and 
Btaid  to  hear  both  Hanuk  and  myself  preach. 

"Thus  we  close  this  visit  to  Futtehpore.  We  have 
fairly  proclaimed  the  gospel  to  crowds  in  its  streets  at 
six  different  points;  carried  on  many  interesting  con- 
versations; and  given  a  tract  or  two  to  everyone  who 
appeared  to  ask  for  them  earnestly,  and  proved  able 
to  read  on  trial." 

"I  met  a  man  here  to-day  who  had  been  a  long 
time  absent  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Gaya,  Ajudhiya,  Brij- 
nath,  Jagathnath,  and  minor  places.  The  man's  mind 
seemed  entirely  dissipated;  not  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  term,  but  gone;  his  knees  trembled  under  him, 
his  eyes  were  bleared,  the  corners  of  his  mouth  fallen 
down,  his  power  of  attending  to  what  I  said,  almost 
nothing,  and  his  answers  the  most  childish  and  fruit- 
less that  I  ever  heard  from  a  man  not  very  old.  I 
asked  him  what  the  matter  was.  He  did  not  know 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  155 

that  anything  was  the  matter — his  mind,  he  supposed, 
was  as  good  as  ever.  Other  natives  came  around,  and 
told  me  he  was  simply  worn  out  by  long  travel  and 
excitement — that  the  case  was  quite  a  common  one, 
and  that  the  man  would  never  recover — would  per- 
haps get  home,  dawdle  about  a  little  while,  and  die. 
Truly  Satan  is  a  hard  master!  And  does  not  the 
case  of  this  poor  man  rebuke  us?  Here  was  a  strong, 
middle-aged  man,  who  had  forsaken  his  home,  no 
doubt  reduced  his  family  almost  or  quite  to  poverty, 
and  literally  worn  himself  out  in  the  service  (as  he 
thought)  of  God;  while  a  very  little  hardship  is  'a 
lion  in  the  way'  to  us,  who  have  so  many  more,  and 
so  much  better,  motives  urging  us  to  devoted  lives!" 

"About  sunset,  visited  a  new  and  handsome  temple 
of  Mahadeo,  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  Hindti 
Pantheon  is  largely  represented  by  paintings  in  one 
of  the  verandahs.  Saw  here,  for  the  first  time,  the 
Hindti  cupid,  Kara  Deo,  armed  like  the  Grecian  one, 
with  bow  and  arrows,  aiming  at  a  woman  in  bed. 
Two  female  attendants,  sitting  by,  are  joining  hands 
in  entreaty  to  him  not  to  hurt  their  mistress.  This 
cupid  is  a  big  burly  fellow,  blue  like  Krishn,  dressed 
most  unclassically  in  a  breech-cloth  and  turban.  The 
temple  is  a  very  pretty  piece  of  architecture,  and  fur- 
nished, in  addition  to  the  usual  linyam,  with  a  large 
marble  image  of  Shiw,  with  his  wife  Parbati  at  his 
side.  These  figures  are  dressed  up  in  native  fashion, 
with  abundance  of  cloth.  While  I  was  looking  at  it 
they  commenced  their  evening  worship — the  ringing 
of  bells  and  beating  of  drums,  together  with  the  offer- 
ing of  lamps.  Ran  away,  lest  the  lookers  on  should 
suppose  I  was  joining  in  the  service,  or  at  least  did 
not  feel  any  repugnance  to  it." 

"When  we  got  to  the  tent  we  found  it  pitched  in 
an  old  rice  field.  A  glance  showed  me  that,  if  it 
should  rain,  we  were  sure  to  be  flooded;  because  rice 
is  never  cultivated  except  where  water  will  stand. 


156  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

But  as  it  was  too  late  to  do  better,  we  had  to  make 
the  best  of  it.  Just  at  dark  the  other  tent  came  up, 
and  we  had  all  our  people  and  goods  together.  At 
this  moment  it  began  to  rain.  We  made  all  haste, 
and  put  up  the  second  tent,  so  that  all  might  be  shel- 
tered who  could.  During  the  greater  part  of  the 
night  we  had  a  very  violent  wind,  but  no  heavy  rain 
till  about  five  in  the  morning,  when  it  began  to  pour 
down  seriously.  The  cartmen,  the  horses,  &c.,  had 
to  stay  out  in  it  all. 

"At  day-break,  we  got  up,  and  threw  up  a  ridge  of 
clay  around  the  tents.  Got  breakfast  for  ourselves 
by  making  a  fire  in  one  of  the  tents;  but  the  poor 
people  could  not  cook  there,  on  account  of  their  caste ; 
so  they  wrapped  all  the  clothes  they  had  around  their 
heads  and  shoulders,  and  sat  down  to  fast  till  the  rain 
should  abate.  It  began  to  rain  less  about  eleven 
o'clock;  and  I  then,  pitying  the  people,  sent  a  rupee 
to  the  nearest  shop  and  bought  parched  grain,  which 
was  distributed  amongst  them.  All  castes  could  eat 
this,  as  it  is  not  contaminated  by  touch." 

"About  four  o'clock  went  to  Ismail  Ganj,  a  large 
village.  This  was  a  market  day  there.  Made  a  great 
mistake  in  supposing  the  greater  part  of  the  people 
would  be  Musalmans,  and  consequently  took  far  too 
few  Hindi  books.  Found  the  people  very  anxious  to 
hear,  and  to  get  books.  But  the  market  was  so  noisy 
we  could  not  be  heard  very  well,  and  we  had  so  few 
Hindi  books  that  we  could  not  supply  the  readers. 
Preached  as  well  and  as  long  as  we  could,  and  pro- 
mised the  people  that  we  would  come  again  to-morrow 
morning.  Coming  out  of  the  town  saw  a  man  wor- 
shipping a  Brahman.  Attacked  them  both  on  the 
absurdity  and  wickedness  of  their  conduct.  A  crowd 
gathered  around  us,  and  we  had  a  very  fair  opportu- 
nity of  preaching,  which  we  improved  as  well  as  we 
could.  Staid  till  the  approach  of  night  put  a  stop  to 
our  labours.  Walked  back  to  the  tent — very  tired." 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  157 

"  Another  class  worth  noticing  was  that  of  the 
faqirs,  or  religious  beggars.  They  were  of  all  kinds, 
though  not  so  numerous  as  I  should  have  found  them 
had  I  come  a  few  days  earlier.  These  are  generally 
sure  to  be  at  the  meld  soon  enough,  so  that  they  may 
gather  a  long  and  full  harvest.  One  day,  while  we 
were  in  the  tent,  I  heard  an  altercation  outside:  one 
of  my  servants  trying  to  drive  away  some  one.  The 
servant  said  there  was  a  lady  in  the  tent,  giving  this 
as  a  reason  why  the  other  should  go  immediately.  He 
answered,  '  Then  tell  them  to  give  me  something,  or  I 
will  not  go.'  I  went  out  to  see  what  was  the  matter, 
and  there  was  a  Hindu  holy  man,  entirely  naked.  I 
would  not  have  noticed  him  if  he  had  worn  the  usual 
narrow  strip  of  cloth ;  but  this  fellow  had  not  even 
that.  He  was  one  of  those  who  profess  to  have  over- 
come all  natural  feelings,  whether  of  the  body  or  of 
the  mind,  and  to  have  attained  to  a  state  of  complete 
innocence  and  holiness,  and  of  consequent  insensibility 
to  shame  and  pain.  I  could  not  forbear  putting  his 
boasted  insensibility  to  the  proof,  by  pelting  him  with 
small  stones,  of  which  a  plenty  were  lying  by  the  side 
of  the  tent — very  ragged  ones  too.  He  soon  gave  in, 
cried  for  mercy,  and  ran  off  like  a  deer.  Had  his 
nakedness  been  the  result  of  misfortune,  it  would  have 
deserved,  and  should  have  received,  different  treat- 
ment. I  have  had  these  men  tell  me,  when  I  asked 
them  who  they  were,  '  I  am  a  clergyman,  (padri,)  the 
same  as  you  are.' ' 

"  We  marched  to  Kassiya,  where  I  received  letters 
from  Allahabad,  and  learned  the  melancholy  news  of 
brother  Walter  M.  Lowrie's  death  in  China.  What 
an  admonition  to  us  all  to  be  doing  our  work  while  it 
is  day!  I  have  no  doubt  he  was  doing  with  his  might 
whatever  he  could;  and  that  he  is  blessed  in  thus  fall- 
ing at  his  post,  and  being  called  early  to  his  reward. 

"  In  the  afternoon  I  went  into  the  town  of  Kassiya, 
and  preached.  I  asked  the  people  if  they  would  re- 
14 


158  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ceive  a  native  assistant,  give  him  a  room  to  stay  in  a 
fortnight,  and  listen  to  him  honestly,  if  I  would  send 
him.  They  said  they  most  certainly  would.  I  won- 
der if  we  ought  not  to  employ  our  native  assistants  in 
this  way  sometimes." 

44  After  breakfast  this  morning,  went  into  the  town 
and  preached.  Gave  away  a  few  books.  The  people 
heard  with  great  attention.  One  man  set  himself  up 
as  my  opponent,  but  had  nothing  to  say,  save  taking 
up  every  assertion  of  mine  and  turning  it  against  me 
by  the  use  of  the  formula — '  That  is  a  lie  when  you 
apply  it  to  us;  you  do  so  yourself.'  I  was  at  last 
obliged  to  tell  him  that  one  gentleman  could  not  talk 
in  this  manner  to  another,  at  which  he  took  offence 
and  went  away." 

"Marched  from  Arapore  to  Futtehpore.  On  the 
way,  learned  that  there  was  a  mel£  going  on  near  the 
road,  under  such  circumstances  as  made  it  desirable 
to  attend  it.  Accordingly,  after  breakfast,  hired  a 
palanquin,  and  went  to  it,  six  miles. 

"The  occasion  of  this  meld,  as  the  people  informed 
me,  is  this:  About  two  years  ago,  a  large  tamarind 
tree  was  uprooted  by  a  storm,  and  lay  in  this  condition 
till  the  people  had  cut  away  the  top  and  the  smaller 
roots.  They  say  it  was  totally  dry,  though  some  of 
the  roots  were  still  in  the  ground.  A  few  months  ago, 
the  owner  of  the  tree  set  some  men  to  cutting  it  up. 
They  had  cut  but  little,  when  the  tree  began  to  cry 
out,  and  the  men  ran  away.  A  few  nights  after,  at 
midnight,  a  woman  of  the  village  near  by,  having  occa- 
sion to  be  out,  saw  the  tree  rise  and  stand  up,  crying, 
Ali,  Ali,  Ali!  Next  day,  a  Musalman  faqir  of  the 
same  village  took  possession,  and  gave  out  that  Hasain 
the  martyr  (one  of  the  grandsons  of  Mohammed)  had 
spoken  to  him  from  the  tree,  and  ordered  him  to  make 
a  platform  about  it,  and  to  invite  people  to  honour  it. 
At  the  same  time,  fresh  twigs  began  to  shoot  out  at 
the  top  of  the  dry  trunk.  The  faqir  says  he  asked 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  159 

what  sign  would  be  given  that  the  martyr  was  really 
there,  and  was  told  that  the  blind  should  receive  sight 
there.  He  obeyed  the  command;  and  as  people  came 
along,  told  them  the  wonderful  story.  Several  blind 
have  been  made  to  see;  people  have  had  the  places  in 
which  to  search  for  stolen  goods  pointed  out  to  them ; 
one  poor  fellow,  who  presumed  to  touch  the  platform 
while  he  had  swine's  flesh  in  him,  was  deprived  of  his 
sight  at  the  instant ;  and  many  other  marvellous  things 
are  related. 

"I  inquired  into  all  the  circumstances  carefully,  and 
cross-examined  all  the  witnesses  I  could  find.  I  need 
not  fatigue  the  readers  of  the  Chronicle  with  all  the 
facts  that  appeared:  they  were  sufficient  to  show  that 
the  tree  had  never  been  dead;  that  it  might  easily 
have  been  raised  up  without  a  miracle;  that  no  one 
could  name  or  point  out  the  men  who  had  cut  it,  and 
heard  the  voice;  no  one  could,  of  his  own  knowledge, 
say  that  any  person  had  received  sight  there,  except 
those  who  were  interested  in,  keeping  up  the  impos- 
ture. The  faqir  family  is  the  most  important  in  the 
village,  which  consists  of  but  five  families,  nearly  all 
of  whom  are  directly  interested  in  the  affair,  and  profit 
by  it;  and  the  others  are  very  low  people,  who  might 
be  easily  hired  to  aid  in  this  or  any  other  rascality,  as 
they  are  professed  thieves.  In  short,  the  tree  has 
evidently  been  set  up  by  these  people,  for  the  sake  of 
the  contributions  that  are  now  coming  in,  and  a  few 
people  have  been  suborned  to  give  false  evidence,  and 
the  credulity  of  others  has  been  wrought  upon,  till  the 
thing  has  grown  to  the  present  height.  A  mela  is 
held  every  Thursday :  sweetmeat-makers,  grain-sellers, 
toymen,  and  some  others,  make  a  good  thing  out  of  it, 
and  are  all  interested  in  the  continuance  of  the  fraud. 
Both  Mohammedans  and  Hindus  frequent  the  place, 
and  equally  believe  in  the  power  of  the  saint. 

"I  took  up  the  platform  as  a  preaching  place;  and 
though  doubtful  whether  they  would  permit  me  to 


160  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

remain  there,  I  thought  it  hest  to  try,  as  anything  I 
might  say  against  the  imposture  on  its  very  seat,  would 
be  more  likely  to  have  effect,  than  if  said  at  any  other 
place.  I  talked  there  as  long  as  I  could  endure  the 
heat,  and  then  went  under  the  shade  of  a  tree.  A 
great  crowd  followed  me ;  and  those  that  were  behind 
compelled  those  who  were  nearest  me  to  sit  down,  so 
that  they  might  hear  better.  I  talked  as  long  as  I  had 
strength,  on  the  insufficiency  of  their  religion  to  satisfy 
the  heart,  as  illustrated  by  their  readiness  to  run  after 
every  new  thing,  even  to  the  stock  of  an  old  tamarind 
tree;  and  then  told  them  how  the  heart  could  rest  on 
the  perfect  atonement  of  Christ,  when  once  it  was  re- 
newed by  faith.  Afterwards  I  distributed  several 
tracts,  and  conversed  with  three  or  four  small  groups, 
and  then  left  for  the  tent. 

"After  leaving  the  ground,  I  met  Hanuk,  who, 
having  reached  the  tent  after  I  went  from  it,  had  fol- 
lowed me.  This  doubled  my  talking  power,  and  I 
turned  back  with  him.  .  We  went  on  the  platform  of 
this  new  idol;  and  from  thence  Hanuk  denounced, 
with  a  great  appearance  of  indignation,  the  idolatry 
and  rascality  of  the  whole  affair.  Then  he  melted  with 
pity  for  the  people,  and  begged  them  to  come  to  Christ, 
•who  would  keep  them  from  all  such  folly.  Then  he 
again  turned  upon  the  faqir,  and  denounced  upon  him 
the  anger  and  curse  of  a  jealous  God,  for  his  proceed- 
ings. I  joined  him  in  this ;  and  we  left  the  poor  people 
confounded  and  speechless.  Then  we  asked  the  people 
to  come  into  the  shade  with  us ;  and  there  again  told 
of  the  love,  power,  and  glory  of  Christ.  We  reached 
home  just  as  it  was  growing  dark,  very  much  fatigued. 

"This  is  the  second  new  idol  that  I  have  encoun- 
tered during  this  short  journey;  and  they  are  fre- 
quented by  thousands.  There  were  not  less  than  a 
thousand  people  present  to-day,  and  I  met  a  great 
number  going  away.  Facts  of  this  kind  show  the 
spiritual  state  of  the  people  in  a  more  striking  and 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  161 

melancholy  light  than  even  their  observance  of  the  old 
idolatry.  That  has  at  least  antiquity  in  its  favour; 
but  here  we  see  people  running  eagerly  after  every 
new  lie;  straining  to  believe  the  most  improbable  pre- 
tensions; asking  for  no  proof;  freely  offering  money, 
grain,  and  clothes,  on  the  shrine  of  every  new  abomi- 
nation, while  our  message  of  truth  is  heard  with  indif- 
ference. We  have  no  lying  wonders,  with  which  to 
captivate  their  gross  senses.  And  the  great  body  of 
the  Musalmdns  are  as  deep  in  this  mire  as  the  Hindus; 
saying  there  is  but  one  God,  but  running  after  Hindu 
idols,  on  the  pretence  that  God  can  work  by  any  instru- 
ment he  pleases.  They  know  nothing  of  the  sublime 
declaration,  'My  glory  will  I  not  give  to  another.' 

"They  showed  me  a  girl,  who,  they  said,  had  been 
made  to  see  a  little  with  one  eye  to-day.  A  man  held 
up  a  finger,  and  asked  how  many  there  were.  She 
answered,  one.  He  held  up  two;  and  she  said  two — 
and  so  on  regularly  to  five.  Then  I  pushed  him 
away,  and  held  up  my  doubled  fist,  and  asked  her  how 
many  fingers  were  open.  She  answered,  two!  Her 
mother  picked  up  an  old  flower,  and  asked  her  to  tell 
what  it  was.  She  said,  a  flower.  Then  I  made  them 
all  hold  their  tongues,  and  showed  her  a  piece  of  white 
sweetmeat,  and  asked  her  what  it  was.  She  said  it 
was  a  flower!  Really  I  never  saw  so  awkward  and 
transparent  a  deception  in  rny  life;  and  yet  the  peo- 
ple were  all  agog  for  swallowing  it,  and  seemed  sorry 
that  I  had  overthrown  the  credit  of  the  lying  blind 
girl." 

"I  find  to-day  that  a  Hindu  servant  now  with  me 
regards  the  Sabbath.  He  cooks  his  dinner  with  more 
than  common  neatness  and  care,  and  uses  no  salt. 
On  other  days  he  eats  with  less  care,  and  puts  salt  in 
his  food.  lie  does  not  know  any  reason  why  he 
makes  this  difference,  except  that  it  is  the  custom  of 
his  caste." 

"By  this  time  five  or  six  men  were  following  me 
14* 


162  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

•with  some  appearance  of  interest.  I  found  a  man  sit- 
ting on  a  small  bedstead  in  front  of  a  room,  having 
beside  him  an  English  fowling-piece,  a  native  match- 
lock gun,  and  a  blunderbuss — in  his  belt  a  pistol,  and 
across  his  knees  a  sword.  A  nice  horse  was  tethered 
near  him.  I  saw  he  was  a  man  of  some  consequence, 
as  I  might  safely  calculate  the  number  of  his  servants 
by  the  arms  I  saw  near  him.  I  addressed  him  by  the 
title  of  'Their  Excellency,'  as  it  is  the  custom  to 
give  high-sounding  titles,  and  in  the  third  person  plu- 
ral; and  he  bestowed  upon  me  the  title  'Majesty,' 
and  invited  me  to  take  a  seat  on  his  bedstead.  He 
told  me  he  was  a  native  lawyer.  I  commenced  tell- 
ing him  about  Christ,  and  he  asked  me  why  we  eat 
pork.  I  told  him  that  was  a  matter  of  merely  tem- 
poral concern,  but  the  salvation  of  the  soul  related  to 
eternity.  But  why  do  you  consider  wine  allowable  ? 
I  begged  him  not  to  introduce  a  matter  of  so  little 
consequence;  told  him  that,  now  there  were  several 
Hindus  listening,  it  became  a  Christian  and  a  Musal- 
man  to  converse  on  such  subjects  as  would  tend  to 
show,  them  a  better  way  than  idolatry.  But  why  do 
not  your  people  wear  beards?  Because,  with  refer- 
ence to  mere  external  matters,  concerning  which  God 
has  given  us  no  directions,  and  about  which  he  does 
not  care,  we  do  just  what  is  most  convenient;  the  soul 
is  of  more  importance.  Pardon  me — I  must  look  fur- 
ther, and  find  some  one  to  talk  with  who  cares  for  his 
soul.  I  made  him  an  obeisance,  and  he  rose  up  very 
politely  to  return  it;  but  as  if  the  spirit  of  trifling  for- 
mality had  fully  possessed  him,  he  asked  me,  How 
dare  you  pray  with  your  body  dirty?  Your  people 
go  and  worship  before  they  bathe.  By  this  timejill 
my  listeners  were  gone." 

"Preached  here  to  eight  men,  and  gave  them  two 
tracts.  They  had  never  heard  a  word  of  the  gospel 
before.  I  spent  a  considerable  time  with  them,  and 
they  followed  me  to  the  bottom  of  the  bank,  and 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  163 

offered  to  furnish  me  with  anything  they  could  to 
eat." 

"Sabbath. — Moved  the  boat  about  a  mile  this 
morning  in  order  to  reach  Musdnagar  (city  of  Moses,) 
•which  we  could  not  do  last  evening.  After  breakfast 
walked  to  the  city,  nearly  a  mile,  through  the  wildest 
place  I  have  ever  seen  in  this  country.  The  whole 
region  between  the  town  and  the  river,  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach  up  and  down  the  stream,  is  cut  up  into 
the  most  ugly  ravines,  the  residence,  as  the  people  tell 
me,  of  tigers  and  wolves.  Near  the  river  the  ground 
is  higher  than  elsewhere,  and  full  of  broken  bricks — 
the  tradition  concerning  which  is,  that  thousands  of 
years  ago  there  was  a  fort  here.  Walked  into  the 
town  with  a  man,  who  offered  to  introduce  me  to  the 
principal  Pandit,  which  he  did.  They  gave  me  a  seat 
in  a  pleasant  shade;  and  we  had  a  long  and  interest- 
ing conversation  in  the  presence  of  a  good  and  atten- 
tive audience." 

"We  came  down  into  the  town  and  preached  to  a 
considerable  company  of  Musalmans.  They  offered  me 
paun  to  eat,  and  a  pipe;  both  of  which  I  declined  on 
the  ground  that  they  would  hinder  my  talking. 

"On  the  way  back,  stopped  to  examine  the  spot 
where  a  new  Bhawani  (a  goddess  of  that  name)  has 
recently  made  her  appearance.  The  people  told  us 
she  appeared  to  a  Brahman  in  a  dream,  and  told  him 
where  to  dig  to  find  her.  I  told  them  that  no  one 
could  find  so  readily  as  he  who  hides;  and  that  it  was 
very  easy  to  pretend  to  have  a  dream.  The  whole 
thing  is  a  contemptible  little  image  of  an  ugly  woman, 
about  eight  inches  high,  shrined  in  a  new  temple 
about  one-fourth  the  size  of  a  dog  kennel.  Doubtless 
it  is  a  good  speculation  for  the  Brahman,  as  the  place 
seems  to  have  been  much  frequented. 

"  In  returning  through  the  town  of  Daranagar  we 
discovered  an  Albino,  a  man  of  the  Kalwar,  or  distil- 
ler caste.  He  would  have  been  perfectly  white  had 


164  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

not  his  skin  acquired  a  reddish  raw-looking  shade — 
hair  white,  and  eyes  red,  like  those  of  a  white  rabbit. 
He  was  a  very  disagreeable  object.  He  told  us  he 
was  married  and  had  a  son  of  the  usual  India  ink 
colour.  He  said  his  health  was  usually  good,  though 
his  eyes  could  ill  bear  a  strong  light.  He  had  once  a 
brother  like  himself,  who  is  now  dead. 

"Near  this  same  town  we  stumbled  on  a  marked 
specimen  of  the  people's  taste  in  modelling  and  sculp- 
ture— the  colossal  figure  of  a  man,  or  of  one  of  the 
Deotds.  The  figure  was  lying  on  its  stomach,  the  legs 
extending  out  behind,  the  arms  spread  out  from  the 
sides,  but  inclining  backwards,  and  the  head  and 
breast  elevated,  as  if  to  peep  over  a  wall  before  it,  for 
the  purpose  of  stealing  a  fearful  look  at  an  image  of 
R&wan  and  his  children,  who  were  standing  in  the 
majesty  of  painted  clay,  at  the  further  side  of  a  field. 
The  work  was  too  large  to  be  the  mere  play  of  the 
boys,  and  too  silly  to  be  done  by  any  but  the  most 
childish  men.  In  itself  the  thing  was  highly  ludicrous ; 
but  when  we  consider  that  it  is  gravely  connected 
with  the  religion  of  the  people;  it  becomes  very 
painful. 

"  4. — A  day  of  hard  work,  and  of  few  events. 
Preached  in  Kara,  in  two  places,  a  long  time.  The 
people  wanted  to  make^a  feast  for  me,  and  consulted 
me  about  what  would  be  most  agreeable;  but  I  told 
them  I  was  most  sensible  of  their  kindness,  and  would 
rather  accept  of  their  offer  than  appear  ungrateful ; 
still  I  did  not  wish  to  give  them  trouble,  and  would 
respectfully  request  they  would  say  no  more  about  it. 

5. — Went  to  Daranagar,  and  preached  in  two  places. 
Had  the  greatest  crowd  about  us  that  we  have  yet 
had.  Nothing  particular  occurred,  except  a  discussion 
about  the  Bhawani,  which  has  recently  come  out  of 
the  ground  here,  mentioned  under  date  of  the  3d.  It 
never  seems  to  have  occurred  to  any  of  the  people 
here,  that  the  Brahman  might  have  hid  the  image 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  165 

•where  he  afterwards  pretended  to  find  it — I  trust  we 
have  done  something  to  damage  his  profits. 

"  As  we  were  coming  out  of  the  town  an  old  Brah- 
man hailed  me,  and  asked  if  he  should  get  his  support 
from  us  if  he  should  come  with  us.  I  asked  him  why 
he  and  the  most  of  the  people  always  had  that  subject 
uppermost,  and  were  always  thinking  of  their  belly. 
He  answered,  that  a  man  could  do  nothing  without 
eating;  and  that  if  he  could  fill  his  belly  by  it,  he 
would  worship  God,  or  Bhawdni,  or  Jesus.  I  added, 
or  Satan.  And  telling  him  we  had  no  use  for  such 
converts,  no  object  in  making  them,  and  no  desire  to 
see  them,  and  that  such  conversion  could  do  men  no 
good,  I  abruptly  turned  away  from  him.  Then  I 
told  the  people  that  we  sought  their  future  happi- 
ness, and  had  no  desire  to  detach  them  from  their 
business  or  their  fields;  I  invited  them  to  receive 
Christ  for  his  own  sake,  and  for  the  life  to  come;  and 
not  for  worldly  advantage.  The  scene  made  an  evi- 
dent impression. 

"  I  noticed  to-day  more  of  that  fatal  levity  in  treat- 
ing religious  subjects,  which  has  often  been  noticed  in 
the  Hindus,  than  I  have  seen  before  in  a  long  time. 
But  it  really  is  not  strange  that  the  Hindus  should 
treat  the  most  serious  subjects  with  a  degree  of  light- 
ness perfectly  inconceivable  to  those  who  have  not 
witnessed  it.  Their  two  greatest  amusements  are, 
their  religious  festivals,  and  listening  to  their  religious 
traditions.  The  chief  festivals  are  the  Hull — throw- 
ing dirt  over  each  other,  and  singing  licentious  songs; 
making  a  large  image  of  lldwan,  and  blowing  him  up; 
setting  up  two  boys  as  Ram  and  Lakshman,  and  con- 
necting dancing,  juggler's  tricks,  and  masquerading 
with  it;  and  the  like.  Their  traditions  are  of  the  im- 
pure and  ludicrous  intrigues  and  adventures  of  the 
gods;  and  to  impious  people  tales  of  impurity  always 
seem  funny;  so  that  whenever  we  begin  to  talk  about 
Christianity  they  seem  to  be  set  all  agog  with  the  ex- 


166  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

pectation  that  something  is  coming  which  will  prove 
equivalent  to  a  good  joke.  Poor  people!  they  are 
never  serious  themselves  about  religion,  and  they  can 
hardly  conceive  how  we  can  be  so.  It  takes  a  long 
acquaintance  to  overcome  this  levity;  and  when  it  is 
overcome,  it  is  succeeded,  not  by  interest,  but  by 
weariness;  because  the  subject  of  course  is,  to  such 
minds,  one  of  the  most  dull  and  dreary  that  could  be 
imagined — there  is  no  fun  in  it — and  faith  has  not 
come  in,  to  give  its  dread  truths  any  effect  on  their 
minds. 

"After  breakfast  I  took  some  tracts  and  went  to 
the  encampment  of  a  company  of  native  artillery 
near  by.  There  were  both  Musalmans  and  Hindus. 
I  had  a  long  talk  with  them,  and  gave  away  four 
tracts. 

"Nearly  all  the  men  were  away  in  the  fields.  I 
found  only  three  to  speak  to.  The  women  all  either 
ran  into  their  houses  or  peeped  at  me  from  the  dis- 
tance. Before  some  of  the  doors  were  little  conical 
heaps  of  cow-dung  with  a  tuft  of  grass  stuck  in  the 
top.  A  little  wall  of  the  same  material  surrounded 
the  heap ;  and  both  were  covered  over  with  little  spots 
of  cotton-wool.  This  they  told  me  was  a  kind  of  altar 
for  the  worship  of  the  cows  and  oxen,  which  is  cele- 
brated once  in  a  year.  They  gave  no  reason  for  this 
worship,  except  the  usefulness  of  these  animals.  For 
the  same  reason,  a  few  evenings  since,  our  skipper 
worshipped  the  boat,  offering  a  lamp  to  its  figure- 
head. 

"  29th. — Preached  in  the  evening  at  a  village.  In 
the  moonlight  after  tea  sat  on  deck  listening  to  the 
sound  of  the  Musalm&n  drums  celebrating  the  Muhur- 
ram  in  one  village,  and  to  the  drum  symphony  of  a 
Hindu  story-teller  in  another.  Shortly  our  own  boat- 
men set  up  a  tune  with  a  drum  accompaniment. 
The  scene  was  beautiful;  and  yet  the  whole  air  was 
filled  with  Satan's  music.  When  shall  it  be  filled 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  167 

with  the  sound  of  psalms  and  Christian  family 
•worship!" 

"Went  from  this  village  to  a  smaller  one — had 
eight  men,  two  women,  and  some  boys  to  hear  us. 
The  people  were  very  stupid  and  ignorant.  We 
found  it  difficult  to  talk  small  enough  to  make  them 
understand  anything.  Did  as  well  as  we  could ;  and 
they  were  evidently  gratified  by  our  attempts, 
whether  any  other  good  were  effected  or  not.  They 
all  promised  me  that  they  would  instantly  forsake 
Hinduism,  and  seek  Christ.  This  kind  of  promise  is 
not  uncommon;  but  fulfilment,  alas!  is  very  rare." 

"This  morning  passed  a  village,  which  was  burnt 
about  eight  days  ago.  The  cattle  and  people  looked 
desolate  enough  amongst  the  fire-marked  clay  walls 
without  roofs  and  doors.  The  roofs  in  this  region, 
being  merely  a  thin  thatch  of  grass  on  very  slender 
poles,  soon  are  entirely  destroyed  by  fire;  and  the 
houses  are  always  so  huddled  together,  that  when  one 
roof  flames,  the  village  is  gone.  But  the  people  will 
soon  cover  in  their  houses  again  in  some  way,  and  sit 
down  content.  It  is  certain  that  after  the  fire  was 
once  over  they  troubled  themselves  very  little  about  it. 
Truly,  there  is  some  consolation  in  having  little  to 
lose,  and  in  an  apathy  that  can  submit  to  anything. 
But  what  can  be  done  for  a  people  so  quiet?" 

"Went  to  a  village  called  Brahmanpur,  about  two 
miles  off,  and  preached  a  good  while  to  about  a  dozen 
Hindus,  who  heard  well.  Most  of  the  people  were 
out  in  the  fields  at  their  work,  and  wo  at  first  thought 
we  should  find  none  to  talk  to;  but  we  walked  all 
through  the  town,  inviting  one  after  another  to  follow 
us,  and  at  last  stopped  on  the  border  of  the  tank  or 
reservoir,  under  the  shade  of  a  tree.  The  news  that  a 
sahib,  or  foreign  gentleman,  was  there,  soon  spread, 
and  all  that  were  at  home  came  running  to  hear  what 
we  had  to  say.  We  found  an  old  native  sergeant  here, 
who  had  retired  on  his  pension,  and  who  was  very 


168  MTSSIONARY   LIFE 

kind  and  civil  to  us,  forcing  on  us  a  present  of  milk, 
which  was  most  acceptable  to  my  assistant  Hanuk." 

Beside  the  above  extracts,  accounts  might  have 
been  given  of  some  scenes  of  a  more  marked  charac- 
ter. Sometimes  it  has  happened  that  the  people 
seem  to  be  in  a  perfect  furor  for  books,  and  press 
upon  the  missionary  greatly.  Occasionally  scenes  of 
comparative  danger  are  encountered.  In  what  I  have 
chosen  to  relate  I  have  aimed  to  present  our  ordinary 
work  amongst  the  rural  population.  To  this,  I  will 
only  add  some  notes  of  a  journey  in  the  Himmalay& 
mountains,  to  convey,  so  far  as  they  may  do  so,  some 
notion  of  the  kind  of  work  to  be  done  there. 

'•'•April  28th. — Rose  early,  and  climbed  the  first  hill 
on  the  road  by  moonlight.  Went  to  a  village  a  little 
way  from  the  road,  and  preached  to  all  the  men  and 
boys  who  were  in  it,  for  about  half  an  hour.  For- 
ward, and  did  the  same  in  another  village,  where  we 
bought  some  wheat-meal  for  the  people  and  ourselves. 
Went  on  to  a  third  village,  and  got  permission  to  sit 
in  the  shade  outside  a  house.  Here  we  had  our 
breakfast  prepared.  While  waiting  for  it,  the  whole 
village  crowded  around  us,  and  we  talked  to  them 
about  the  gospel  a  good  while. 

"  The  people  of  these  villages  seemed  very  ignor- 
ant. They  appeared  to  be  afraid  of  us  in  some  res- 
pects. At  first  they  stoutly  maintained  that  they 
had  nothing  to  sell ;  but  when  they  saw  us  begin  to 
pay  money  for  meal,  they  began  to  bring  it  freely 
from  all  their  houses  for  sale,  and  we  heard  several 
hand-mills  commence  operations.  We  found  a  man 
who  said  that  a  neighbour,  who  was  absent,  could 
read  Hindi,  but  he  would  not  take  a  book,  which 
we  wished  to  leave  for  him.  Another  man  said 
that  his  son,  who  was  also  absent,  could  read  well; 
and  after  some  persuasion,  he  allowed  us  to  leave 
some  tracts  for  him.  But  just  before  night  he  came 
to  our  tent,  a  distance  of  at  least  three  and  a  half 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  169 

miles,  and  over  a  most  tiresome  road,  to  return  the 
books.  He  said  that  Mr.  Woodside  had  told  him 
that  he  would  make  inquiry,  on  his  return,  whether 
they  had  read  and  understood  them,  and  that  the 
whole  village  were  frightened  at  the  idea  of  such  an 
inquiry,  and  were  persuaded  that  if  their  knowledge 
did  not  give  satisfaction,  they  would  be  punished  in 
some  way.  We  could  not  persuade  him  to  keep  the 
books.  He  then  made  a  demand  for  a  few  coppers, 
which  he  said  one  of  our  hill-men  had  run  off  without 
paying.  But  it  happened  that  both  of  us  saw  the 
money  fully  and  honestly  paid.  We  set  out  with  a 
rule  that  everything  should  be  paid  in  our  presence, 
to  avoid  disputes  of  this  kind.  After  he  found  that 
the  case  was  going  against  him,  he  said  that  his 
honesty  in  bringing  back  the  books,  when  he  found 
that  they  could  not  be  used  satisfactorily,  ought  to 
cause  his  story  to  be  believed.  The  fact  is,  he 
thought  in  this  way  to  make  us  believe  his  falsehood 
about  the  money,  and  it  was  this  that  caused  him  to 
take  all  that  trouble,  and  give  up  the  tracts. 

"About  noon  we  left  this  third  village,  and  went 
down  into  the  valley  of  the  Jumna.  We  thought 
we  should  have  a  good  deal  of  shade  on  the  road,  but 
were  disappointed;  the  sun  beat  upon  us  with  con- 
stantly increasing  fury,  as  we  left  the  elevation  of 
the  hills.  The  road  was  the  sharpest  descent  which 
I  had  ever  attempted ;  it  turned  sharply  to  the  right 
and  left,  forming  a  zig-zag;  it  was  fully  three  miles 
down,  and  so  steep  that  we  had  to  go  on  foot;  the 
horses  slid  frequently;  I  had  to  plant  my  foot  care- 
fully, in  order  to  prevent  a  disastrous  slide.  I 
reached  the  river  at  last,  feeling  that  I  had  never 
before  exerted  myself  physically  to  the  same  degree. 
.The  tent  was  set  up  on  the  bank  of  the  Jumna,  and 
we  spent  the  night  there. 

"  The  Jumna,  at  this  place,  was  a  stream  about 
forty  feet  wide,  running  very  rapidly  over  a  stony 
15 


170  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

bed,  probably  falling  four  feet  in  every  hundred.  It 
presented  every  appearance  of  being  a  raging  torrent 
thirty  feet  deep  in  the  rains.  There  is  an  iron  sus- 
pension bridge  over  it,  built  by  the  government. 
The  hills  on  both  sides  are  precipitous,  leaving  only  a 
narrow  patch  of  bottom  land  here  and  there. 

"We  found  a  solitary  hill-man  living  here,  who 
looks  after  the  bridge.  We  talked  to  him  about 
Christ. 

"April  29th. — A  severe  morning  march  up  from 
the  Jumna.  In  many  places  the  road  was  too  steep 
to  ride.  When  our  breath  was  much  expended,  we 
took  hold  of  the  horses'  tails,  and  made  them  assist 
us.  After  ascending,  we  stopped  at  a  pretty  large 
village,  the  name  of  which  I  forgot  to  record.  There 
was  a  large  two  storied  temple  here,  and  close  to  it 
a  three- storied  public  building,  the  lower  story  of 
which  was  a  kind  of  storehouse  for  the  temple,  and 
the  upper  stories  empty,  and  used  as  sleeping  places 
for  strangers.  The  temple  is  one  of  Siva,  containing 
only  the  usual  lingam.  This  god,  called  in  the  plains 
Mah&deo,  (the  great  god,)  is  here,  and  wherever  we 
went  in  the  hills,  called  Mah&su — the  last  syllable 
being,  doubtless,  a  corruption  of  Shiva,  or  Siva. 
The  temple  stood  in  the  middle  of  an  oblong  court, 
with  houses  on  two  sides  belonging  to  the  temple 
establishment,  which  seemed  to  be  numerous.  In. 
the  shade  of  the  temple  we  had  our  breakfast  cooked, 
and  our  little  table  set  out.  There  we  talked  a  long 
time  to  the  assembled  villagers  about  Christ.  After- 
ward we  spent  part  of  the  day  in  the  strangers'  apart- 
ments, talked  again  to  the  people,  and  dined. 

"By  the  side  of  the  large  temple  was  a  very  small 
one,  with  an  image  of  Kali,  all  smeared  with  the 
blood  of  kids  that  had  been  offered  to  her. 

"  In  the  course  of  this  day,  an  old  woman,  belong- 
ing to  the  temple,  dressed  herself  up  in  all  her 
absurd  finery,  and  offered  to  dance  before  us.  We 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  171 

gave  the  people  to  understand  that  we  did  not  like  to 
encourage  bad  women.  They  told  us  that  in  this 
part  of  the  hills  there  were  no  such  women;  and  that 
though  none  but  bad  women  dance  in  the  plains,  here 
respectable  women  do  so,  before  idols  and  at  wed- 
dings. However,  we  still  declined  to  encourage  the 
thing,  because  they  intended  the  dance  to  be  in  hon- 
our of  the  idol ;  otherwise  we  would  have  witnessed 
it,  in  order  to  see  as  much  as  possible  of  their  man- 
ners and  customs. 

"  A  singular  exhibition  of  spiritual  vanity  and 
desire  of  applause  to-day.  Our  coolies  made  an 
offering  to  Mahasu,  and  boasted  to  us  that  they  had 
given  twelve  and  a  half  cents  each — a  large  sum  for 
such  a  purpose.  When  we  mentioned  this  to  the 
people  of  the  temple,  they  replied,  with  indignation, 
that  all  our  people  together  had  given  three  cents, 
and  wished  for  the  credit  of  a  large  donation.  Poor 
human  nature  is  the  same  everywhere.  After  dinner 

marched  again,  and  talked  at  another  village. 
******** 

"  We  had  milk  and  other  provisions  from  the  peo- 
ple of  this  town,  and  the  headman  has  impressed  him- 
self on  my  memory  as  the  most  avaricious  man  I  have 
ever  encountered.  After  we  had  paid  the  full  usual 
price  for  all  that  we  had  obtained  through  him,  and 
given  him  a  small  present  for  his  attentions  to  us,  he 
began  to  question  us  as  to  how  much  more  money  we 
would  have  given  him  had  we  not  given  the  people 
books ;  and  offered  to  gather  up  and  return  the  books, 
if  we  would  give  him  the  very  smallest  sum  of  money. 
He  complained  because  we  had  paid  for  one  article  to 
the  man  who  brought  it,  saying  that  it  ought  to  have 
gone  through  his  hands,  in  order  that  he  might  have 
secured  a  part  of  it.  When  we  expressed  some  con- 
tempt of  such  extreme  cupidity,  he  said  he  saw  no 
reason  for  it;  money  was  the  highest  good — and  'Oh, 
how  I  do  love  money  !'  came  out  with  an  emphasis  and 


172  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

unction  that  would  have  been  the  best  of  all  possible 
reproofs  to  some  close-fisted  Christians. 

*         *         *         *          *         *         *          * 

"  Spoke  to  the  few  people  whom  we  could  find.  We 
happened  to  touch  a  small  conical  stone,  which  was 
lying  on  a  large  rock  near  the  border  of  a  field,  and 
one  of  the  villagers  immediately  cried  out  against  us, 
that  we  had  desecrated  his  god,  and  that  it  would  cost 
him  a  goat  to  atone  for  our  transgression.  We  de- 
clined to  pay  for  the  goat,  and  advised  him  to  seek  a 
different  object  of  worship. 

"  The  village  near  us  is  named  Kachanu.  We  here 
found  the  first  apricot  and  walnut  trees. 

"  May  3d. — On  the  march  Mr.  Woodside  preached 
in  the  village  called  Bandrauli.  I  was  too  hoarse  to 
assist  him  much.  In  the  evening  reached  a  place 
called  Shilaura,  where  the  same  thing  occurred. 

"  During  this  afternoon's  march,  we  came  in  sight 
of  the  Tauns  river.  This  is  one  of  the  tributaries  of 
the  Jumna,  and  quite  as  large  as  that  river  where  we 
crossed  it.  Our  first  view  of  it  was  gained  on  round- 
ing the  shoulder  of  a  high  mountain,  when  the  valley, 
with  a  large  nice  village  and  a  great  amount  of  culti- 
vation, opened  upon  us  through  a  shower  of  rain,  on 
which  the  sun  was  shining.  Our  elevation  was  such 
that  not  the  faintest  murmur  of  the  vexed  stream 
below  reached  our  ears — while  we  could  trace  the 
white  foaming  torrent  for  a  long  distance.  Here,  as 
in  many  places,  our  road  was  a  narrow  cut,  from  two 
and  a  half  to  five  feet  in  width,  in  the  side  of  the  hill, 
while  there  was  a  clear  slope  below  us,  apparently 
quite  down  to  the  river,  appearing  as  if  a  person  once 
started  would  roll  without  remedy  a  mile  and  a  half  to 
its  rocky  bed. 

*******          * 

"  May  5th. — Marched  in  the  morning  from  Man- 
dhaur  to  Tikri.  Here  we  found  a  village  on  the  top 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  173 

of  a  ridge,  with  a  temple  and  very  small  lodging-house 
with  open  sides.  Rested  part  of  the  day  and  preached 
a  good  deal. 

"  The  architecture  of  this  region*  is  peculiar.  The 
roofs  are  like  the  top  of  a  tent:  flattish  towards  the 
eaves,  becoming  more  steep  as  they  ascend,  and  end- 
ing in  sharp  points  at  the  top.  Around  the  eaves 
hangs  a  fringe  of  turned  wooden  pins,  fastened  loosely 
on  nails,  so  that  they  swing  in  the  wind,  and  rattle 
against  each  other.  The  architecture  is  decidedly 
Tatar,  or  Chinese,  rather  than  Hindu. 

"Forward  to  Pientra,  crossing  two  small  streams, 
and  consequently  having  a  great  deal  of  down  and 
up.  Reached  the  tent  late,  and  dined  at  near  10, 
P.  M. 

"  May  QtTi. — Could  not  leave  this  beautiful  valley 
without  proclaiming  the  good  tidings  to  the  people, 
and  therefore  did  not  march.  Mr.  Woodside  preached, 
and  I  was  obliged  to  be  nearly  silent  on  account  of 

my  throat. 

*         *         *          ***** 

"  About  11  o'clock  we  left  this  place,  and  marched 
to  a  brook,  where  we  spent  a  part  of  the  day,  and 
afterward  went  on  to  a  place  called  Ohhipal.  A 
large  temple,  a  police  station,  a  shop  of  sundries,  a 
government  dispensary  with  native  doctor,  and  several 
ordinary  houses,  made  up  the  village.  The  elevation 
must  have  been  considerable,  as  the  cold  was  a  serious 
annoyance.  We  talked  to  all  the  people  whom  we 
could  get  together,  and  left  some  books.  The  greater 
part  of  the  people  showed  the  greatest  degree  of  indif- 
ference to  our  message. 

"  The  road  here  is  much  wider  than  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Tauns ;  but  the  severity  of  the  ascents  and 
descents  is  not  much  less.  We  had  hard  work  this 
afternoon.  The  people  have  evidently  had  more  inter- 
course with  Europeans,  in  some  respects  to  their 
great  advantage,  and  in  others  not. 
15* 


174  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

"  May  7th. — Our  first  halting  place  was  called  Pat- 
thar  Nala — a  very  pleasant  place,  but  near  no  village, 
nor  did  we  pass  any  on  the  road.  This  place  is  reck- 
oned one  of  the  usual  stages ;  but  as  the  day  was  Sa- 
turday, and  we  did  not  wish  the  Sabbath  to  be  a  day 
of  idleness  as  well  as  of  rest,  we  marched  in  the  even- 
ing to  the  next  village  that  was  near  the  road,  the 
name  of  which  was  Udai.  We  found  our  tent  pitched 
near  the  village.  A  beautiful  water-course  brought 
down  a  stream  for  the  irrigation  of  the  fields,  and  a 
fine  orchard  of  apple  and  apricot  trees  was  on  one  of 
the  slopes  of  the  hill.  On  making  inquiry,  we  learned 
that  the  place  belonged  to  the  estate  of  the  R4n4  of 
Balsan.  Rand,  is  a  title  given  to  small  chieftains, 
though  they  sometimes  have  sovereign  authority  in 
their  territories.  The  headman  of  the  village  sent  off 
information  of  our  arrival  to  the  Rdnd,  whose  resi- 
dence was  at  a  distance  of  about  a  mile  and  a  half. 
We  could  not  but  admire  the  scenery  here.  We  had 
passed  over  a  fine  wide  hill  road,  latterly  along  the 
side  of  a  finely  wooded  mountain ;  and  our  encamp- 
ment was  on  one  of  five  ridges,  which  descended  and 
converged  towards  a  point  in  a  large  valley  that  lay 
below  us.  Numerous  villages  were  in  sight,  and  the 
lower  parts  of  the  hills  were  prettily  terraced  and  cul- 
tivated. Here  would  be  a  very  fine  place  for  a  hill 
mission. 

"May  8th — Sabbath. — This  morning  about  ten 
o'clock  the  Rdnd  and  suite  came  to  see  us.  We  had 
offered  to  go  and  see  him  first,  as  a  compliment  to  his 
rank ;  but  his  people  would  not  hear  a  word  of  it,  say- 
ing that  the  Rdnd  would  think  himself  disgraced  if  he 
failed  to  pay  clergymen  the  compliment  of  visiting 
them  first,  because  he  felt  that  ecclesiastical  office 
placed  a  man  above  all  worldly  rank.  The  people  of 
the  village  gathered  around  us,  and  I  preached  about 
an  hour  to  them,  addressing  what  I  said  to  the  Rdnd, 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  175 

•who  assented  to  it  all  as  good.  He  then  told  us 
something  of  his  history — pointed  out,  on  the  top  of 
a  neighbouring  hill,  the  ruins  of  a  fort,  which  had 
once  belonged  to  the  Gurkhas,  who  had  driven  him 
from  his  territories,  and  kept  possession  of  them  four 
years.  When  the  Gurkha  power  was  broken  by  the 
English,  he  gathered  his  people,  took  and  demolished 
the  fort,  and  handed  over  his  prisoners,  three  hundred 
and  eighteen  in  number,  to  General  Ochterlony.  The 
people  here  have  a  curious  corruption  of  this  general's 
name — they  uniformly  call  him  Luniakhtar,  placing 
the  two  first  syllables  after  the  two  last.  The  Rana 
had  evidently  been  a  man  of  action  and  energy.  His 
grandson,  the  heir-apparent,  gives  small  promise  of 
being  a  worthy  successor  to  him;  he  is  about  the  dirt- 
iest and  most  ignorant  fellow  that  we  have  met  in  the 
hills.  The  old  gentleman  has  a  great-grandson,  about 
sixteen  years  old,  a  fine  boy,  whom  I  wish  we  could 
educate.  We  pleaded  with  his  dirty  father  to  send 
him  to  the  plains  to  school,  but  I  fear  in  vain. 

"In  the  evening  we  returned  the  Riind's  visit. 
Mr.  Woodside  talked  a  little  while  to  the  people  at 
his  house.  The  house  was  four  stories  in  height, 
built  on  three  sides  of  a  court-yard.  The  lower  story 
seemed  to  be  mostly  occupied  by  the  cattle,  and  the 
court-yard  was  full  of  manure.  We  returned,  on  the 
whole  a  good  deal  disgusted  at  the  palace.  But 
though  we  could  not  fancy  the  peculiar  kind  of  civili- 
zation seen  here,  yet  justice  requires  me  to  say  that 
the  Rdrid  and  his  people  are  far  in  advance  of  the 
great  body  of  the  hill  people.  I  have  no  doubt  but 
that  he  would  receive,  and  treat  well,  a  mission  that 
would  include  a  medical  man,  a  school,  &c."  i 

No  effort  has  been  made,  in  selecting  matter  to  re- 
present our  experience,  to  put  matters  in  an  encour- 
aging light.  The  cause  of  Christ  can  never  be  really 
promoted  by  deception,  by  highly  colouring  facts,  nor 


176  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

by  concealing  what  may  tend  to  discourage  some  per- 
sons. For  those  who  support  foreign  missions  on 
right  principles,  it  is  sufficient  to  know  that  people  are 
destitute  of  the  gospel  and  accessible.  This,  with 
their  knowledge  of  the  promises  of  God,  is  enough  to 
cause  them  to  work  on  with  zeal,  faith,  and  patience. 

There  ought  to  be  much  more  done  in  the  way  of 
itinerating  than  is  done  at  present.  There  is  no 
other  way  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the  people  can 
ever  hear  the  gospel.  But  the  missionaries  at  pres- 
ent in  the  field  cannot  do  enough  of  this  work.  One 
man,  or  perhaps  two,  at  each  station,  are  confined  by 
schools,  so  that  they  can  only  go  out  during  their  va- 
cation of  one  month.  Others  are  bound  to  their  sta- 
tions by  presses  and  other  things,  to  leave  which  for 
any  time  requires  a  great  deal  of  management.  More 
than  once  I  have  been  obliged  to  have  a  man  con- 
stantly going  between  my  tent  and  the  press,  when  I 
was  out  preaching  in  the  country,  to  carry  proofs, 
business  letters,  and  the  like;  and  had  to  spend  half 
of  the  day  in  work  to  keep  the  presses  in  motion. 
And  it  often  happens  that  when  we  go  out,  it  is  to 
attend  a  meeting  of  Synod,  or  a  mela,  which  it  is  a 
shame  to  neglect ;  and  there  is  not  time  on  the  road 
to  do  anything  better  than  fco  get  forward  as  fast  as 
possible,  and  preach  as  much  as  one  can  during  halts. 
These  things  show  that  there  ought  to  be  more  mis- 
sionaries at  each  station.  Superintendents  of  schools 
and  presses,  and  others  having  fixed  employments, 
could  then  be  relieved  for  a  part  of  each  cold  season, 
and  all  could  remain  out  for  about  three  months,  each 
party  at  different  times,  so  as  to  cover  the  whole 
season. 

If  we  could  have  as  many  men  as  would  be  desirable 
at  such  a  place  as  Allahabad,  a  plan  might  be  carried 
out  for  thoroughly  preaching  through  that  district, 
•which  has  not  yet  been  done ;  and  it  is  not  wonderful 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  177 

that  it  has  not  been  done.  There  are  about  ten  large 
towns,  and  five  thousand  villages  and  hamlets  in  it; 
and  at  the  rate  of  three  a  day,  which  is  as  great  an 
average  of  visits  as  a  missionary  can  pay,  it  would 
require  over  forty  years  of  one  man's  life — Sundays 
and  holidays  included — without  one  day's  rest,  or  one 
day's  sickness,  or  one  day's  attendance  at  church,  or 
one  day's  visiting,  to  preach  only  once  in  each  of 
these  places.  And  along  with  this  view  of  that  dis- 
trict, the  sad  fact  ought  to  be  remembered,  that  it  is 
flanked  on  both  sides  by  unoccupied  districts  of  greater 
extent.  Almost  all  the  places  that  we  occupy  are  sur- 
rounded by  an  equally  dense  population.  Large  tracts 
of  country  lie  open  on  all  sides  of  us ;  people  ready  to 
listen  are  everywhere;  roads  to  facilitate  travel  exist 
in  abundance,  at  least  through  all  the  territories  of 
the  English,  and  in  some  instances,  in  those  of  the 
native  princes;  and  the  protection  afforded  to  life  and 
property,  and  to  one  peaceably  preaching  the  gospel, 
is  sufficient. 

This  is  a  simple,  unexaggerated  view  of  the  work  to 
be  done,  and  of  the  facilities  for  doing  it,  ifonly  the 
men  were  there.  I  have  a  hundred  times  been  asked, 
since  I  came  to  America,  if  we  have  yet  produced  any 
very  sensible  effect  on  the  country  by  our  labours.  In 
the  ninth  chapter  of  this  work  will  be  found  the  an- 
swer to  this  question.  But  if  the  Church  will  look  at 
the  field,  and  our  means,  she  will  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  we  can  give  an  answer  in  any  respect  encouraging. 
Let  the  facts  stated  in  this  paragraph  be  pondered. 
They  are  highly  suggestive. 


178  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  PREPARATION  OF  BOOKS  FOR  THE  PRESS. 

EVERY  missionary  who  has  any  leisure  for  it,  and  who 
acquires  sufficient  skill  in  the  languages  used  in  his 
field  of  labour,  will  desire  to  do  something  to  bring  the 
power  of  the  press  to  bear  upon  the  mass  of  evil  around 
him.  And  all  have  this  leisure,  who  are  not  particu- 
larly engaged  in  schools,  or  something  as  engrossing. 
If  a  man's  chief  work  be  oral  preaching  to  the  heathen, 
he  will  generally  have  all  the  middle  of  the  day  to 
employ  in  study  of  some  kind,  or  in  writing  and  trans- 
lating, for  seven  months  of  the  year.  During  the 
other  five  months,  he  ought  to  be  in  the  district,  away 
from  the  city,  and  busy  in  such  operations  as  are  de- 
scribed in  the  last  chapter.  But  during  the  seven  hot 
months,  he  can  only  go  out  to  preach  in  the  morning 
and  the  evening.  A  part  of  the  day  ought  to  be  used 
in  preparing  for  such  preaching,  in  thinking  how  to 
answer  objections,  and  in  talking  with  the  catechist  on 
such  matters ;  but  this  will  still  leave  him  some  time. 
This  time  he  ought  to  employ  in  doing  such  literary 
work  as  may  most  directly  aid  the  object  of  the 
preaching.  All  missionaries  cannot,  indeed,  be  ex- 
pected to  produce  anything  in  this  way.  Delicacy  of 
health  may  prevent.  In  many  cases,  the  style  formed 
in  learning  the  language  is  not  sufficiently  good  for 
this  purpose,  though  a  man  may  use  it  effectively  in 
preaching.  The  mid-day  leisure  of  many  is  filled  up 
with  the  care  of  schools  and  presses,  and  with  business 
connected  with  the  mission.  We  are  also  to  remember, 
that  a  man  will  ordinarily  be  preaching  a  year  or  two 
at  least,  before  he  will  feel  that  he  has  sufficient  expe- 
rience of  the  ideas  and  language  of  the  country  to 
write  books  for  the  people  of  it. 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  179 

All  these  things  make  it  most  necessary  that  they 
who  have  language,  leisure,  and  ability,  should  use 
them.  A  great  deal  has  been  done  towards  secur- 
ing good  translations  of  the  Scriptures;  and  this 
object  is  now  so  far  accomplished,  that  probably  only 
occasional  revisions,  for  future  editions,  will  be  neces- 
sary, until  the  native  Hindustani  church  shall  pro- 
duce scholars  of  her  own,  with  such  learning  that 
they  can  reproduce  the  ideas  of  the  Bible  correctly, 
and  in  an  idiom  more  acceptable  to  their  countrymen 
than  that  of  foreigners  can  ever  be.  Tracts  and 
elementary  treatises  on  religious  subjects  have  been 
prepared  to  some  extent,  the  greater  part  of  them 
having  a  connection  with  the  controversies  between 
us  and  the  Mohammedans  and  Hindus.  But  a  great 
deal  more  remains  to  be  done :  the  reading  of  native 
Christians  is  still  confined  to  very  few  books.  Com- 
parative destitution,  then,  is  the  first  reason  why  we 
should  all  labour  in  this  department  if  we  can.  And 
it  must  be  stated  that  this  destitution  is  not  merely  of 
religious  books;  we  have  scarcely  any  history,  phi- 
losophy, science  or  literature,  in  either  dialect  of  the 
Hindustani;  and  what  little  there  is  in  any  of  these 
departments  is  either  Mohammedan  or  Hindu  in  its 
tendency,  or  mere  crude  and  elementary  attempts. 
Most  of  it  is,  therefore,  evil  in  its  tendency  in  various 
ways;  and  this  is  a  second  reason  why  we  should 
write  for  the  press.  The  want  of  a  good  literature, 
using  the  word  in  its  broadest  sense,  is  one  of  the 
greatest  hinderances  to  the  work  of  conversion.  And 
yet  if  there  were  nothing  extant,  which  took  the 
place  of  a  literature,  it  would,  in  some  respects,  be 
better  for  us  ;  for  that  which  exists  misleads  the  peo- 
ple, and  is  so  thoroughly  trusted  in,  that  we  can 
scarcely  find  any  place  for  the  truth.  The  people 
have  histories,  geographies,  and  various  other  works ; 
but  they  are  as  erroneous  as  they  can  be,  and  the 
people  are  as  bigoted  about  them  as  about  their  reli- 


180  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

gions.  Every  one  has  heard  of  Hindu  astronomy, 
and  how  it  is  connected  with  mythological  and  theo- 
logical fables,  till  it  has  become  a  part  of  their  reli- 
gion; and  the  fact  that  they  can  calculate  eclipses 
gives  the  Pandits  such  credit  with  the  people  that  it 
certainly  would  be  better,  not  merely  for  the  cause 
of  Christianity,  but  ultimately  for  science  itself,  if 
they  knew  nothing,  and  were  dependent  upon  mis- 
sionaries for  the  very  elements  of  all  knowledge.  All 
have  heard  of  the  seven  concentric  oceans  of  the 
Hindus;  and  it  is  harder  to  remove  this  false  idea 
from  the  mind,  and  afterwards  implant  the  truth, 
than  it  would  be  to  make  a  good  geographer  of  a 
savage.  In  the  matter  of  history,  the  Hindus  have 
not  a  page  that  is  reliable ;  and  yet  they  have  a 
history,  so  full  of  a  marvellous  antiquity  and  aston- 
ishing deeds  and  occurrences,  that  we  appear  in 
comparison  to  be  pigmies  in  exploits  and  knowledge. 
The  notions  of  the  Mohammedans  are  just  as  far 
from  the  truth.  For  instance,  if  we  wish  to  appeal 
to  history  in  any  way  for  evidence  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  they  suppose  themselves  to  be  in  posses- 
sion of  all  history  already,  and  will  not  admit  a  jot 
that  we  can  bring  forward.  They  are  as  completely 
unbelievers  as  to  Herodotus,  Xenophon,  Josephus, 
and  all  other  early  historians,  as  they  are  of  the  New 
Testament.  They  have  received  a  distorted  and 
fabulous  account  of  the  Greeks,  and  of  Alexander, 
from  the  Persians ;  and  this  they  insist  on  believing, 
and  will  have  nothing  else.  All  the  ecclesiastical 
history  and  other  writings  of  the  first  six  centuries 
after  Christ,  are  to  them  a  perfect  nullity ;  but  they 
suppose  that  they  know  all  about  it.  And  when  we 
adduce  anything  of  the  sort,  they  say  that  if  there 
had  been  any  such  thing  they  should  have  heard  of 
it,  and  that  is  the  end.  And  the  Hindus  have  not 
even  so  much  knowledge  of  the  ancient  West — they 
can  scarcely  believe  that  it  ever  existed.  Therefore 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  181 

we  have  to  teach  the  people  not  only  religion,  but 
also  history  and  science;  and  we  must  go  back  to  the 
very  beginnings  of  knowledge,  and  clear  away  the 
jungle,  and  plant  anew  through  the  whole  course. 
Doubtless  we  shall  secure  some  native  assistance  in 
this;  native  Christians  will  help  us;  but  everyone 
will  see  that  for  another  whole  generation  foreign 
assistance  will  be  a  necessity. 

To  enliven  this  dry  chapter,  a  few  amusing  instan- 
ces of  the  conceit  of  knowledge  will  be  related.  A 
Pandit  once  soberly  gave  me  an  account  of  the  origin 
of  winds  and  storms.  I  do  not  think  that  all  Pandits 
are  as  ignorant  as  he  was ;  and  yet  his  extravaganza 
may  be  taken  as  a  specimen  of  a  thousand  prevailing 
ideas.  He  said — There  is  a  great  monster,  that  lives 
near  the  outer  verge  of  the  first  circle  of  ocean,  that 
is,  the  salt  water  ocean.  He  is  several  thousand  miles 
long.  He  was  one  of  the  gods,  but  for  some  offence 
has  been  confined  in  that  lonely  situation.  He  lies 
near  the  surface  of  the  water,  with  his  face  above  it, 
and  turns  about  continually.  His  motions  cause  the 
continual  heaving  of  the  ocean ;  his  respirations 
cause  the  tides;  his  breath,  discharged  in  various 
directions,  cause  the  ordinary  winds;  and  when  the 
water  occasionally  dashes  in  his  face,  and  incommodes 
his  nostrils,  he  blows  the  water  out  of  his  nose  with 
an  impatient  snort,  which  causes  a  storm,  that  pro- 
ceeds to  the  utmost  bound  of  the  earth  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  he  may  happen  to  be  lying.  Storms  in 
other  directions  are  the  reflections  of  such  storms  as 
strike  against  Mount  Sumeru. 

In  a  discussion  with  a  Musalman  I  brought  forward 
the  idea  that  in  Christian  countries  art,  learning  and 
morals  are  in  a  better  condition  than  in  any  other. 
He  denied  our  superiority  in  general  terms;  and  said 
that,  as  to  art,  it  was  essentially  idolatrous,  and  Mus- 
alrmins  could  not  practise  it;  but  if  they  would,  it  was 
well  known  that  their  fancy,  imagination  and  taste 
16 


182  MISSIONAKY   LIFE 

were  much  greater  than  those  of  Europeans ;  as  to 
learning,  we  were  no  match  for  them :  rhetoric  we 
evidently  could  make  very  little  of,  \vhile  they  had  it 
in  perfection ;  and  so  they  had  logic,  of  which  Euro- 
peans had  not  the  first  rudimental  idea — had  not  even 
a  name  for  it;  and  their  philosophy  accounted  for 
everything  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  and  for  much  that 
was  in  other  places,  while  it  was  perfectly  certain  that 
Europeans  had  no  notion  of  spiritual  and  abstract 
ideas.  He  would,  indeed,  acknowledge  that  we  had 
a  greater  acquaintance  with  steam,  and  with  the 
science  of  mechanics  generally,  than  they  had;  but 
this  was  a  low  kind  of  knowledge,  to  possess  which 
showed  no  grandeur  of  ideas,  no  cultivation  of  intel- 
lect, no  taste,  nor  anything  but  a  qualification  for 
being  what  we  are,  the  mechanics  of  the  world !  He 
said  that  this  knowledge  was  only  a  refinement  of 
brute  force,  by  which  we  held  in  subjection  a  great 
part  of  the  world,  not  to  our  honour,  but  to  the  ex- 
posure of  our  grossness.  Morals  he  gave  up  to  us, 
saying  with  a  wicked  wink,  that  rustics  and  low  per- 
sons were  usually  found  to  be  more  correct  in  some 
respects  than  gentlemen. 

Two  standing  objections,  which  Musalmans  make 
to  any  proof  drawn  from  the  New  Testament  are, 
that  Christians  have  corrupted  it,  cutting  out  and 
inserting  what  they  pleased ;  and  that  when  the 
Mohammedan  army  took  Alexandria  and  burned  the 
library,  every  copy  of  the  New  Testament  was  lost. 
Now  a  correct  knowledge  of  geography  and  history 
proves  that  neither  of  these  things  could  have  hap- 
petied.  I  have  often  had  occasion  to  show  this  to 
visitors  and  others  in  discussion ;  but  those  that  are 
educated  in  the  native  fashion,  deny  every  fact  and 
statement  which  we  can  bring  forward  bearing  on 
these  points;  and,  before  we  can  prove  anything  re- 
lating to  them,  we  must  go  back  and  prove  a  thousand 
subsidiary  matters,  historical  and  geographical.  In 


IN    NORTH    INDIA.  183 

short,  the  whole  foundation  of  reasoning  with  them 
on  such  matters  must  be  laid  ab  initio.  Once  a  native 
friend  of  mine,  who  had  been  pretty  well  educated  in 
English  in  a  government  school,  made  these  objec- 
tions ;  and  I  appealed  to  him  whether  he  did  not  know 
that  they  could  not  stand.  He  answered  that  he 
knew  it  very  well;  but,  said  he,  "what  will  you,  or 
what  can  I  do  with  learned  Musalmans,  who  have  only 
been  taught  on  the  native  system?  I  have  stated  the 
matter  to  them;  and  they  answer  me  that  I  am  de- 
ceived by  a  systematic  manufacture  of  geography  and 
history  to  answer  Christian  purposes ;  and  that  the 
government,  professing  to  be  neutral  as  to  religion, 
is  really  in  secret  helping  the  missionairies,  by  using 
books  of  falsehood  in  its  schools."  Ignorance  of  this 
kind  is  more  invincible  than  mere  absence  of  know- 
ledge; and  to  deal  with  people  so  stuffed  with  false 
notions,  and  so  confident  in  them,  requires  the  exer- 
cise of  the  greatest  talent  and  industry. 

An  account  of  a  Mohammedan  map  of  the  world, 
lately  published  at  Lucknow,  which  claims  to  be  the 
Athens,  as  it  certainly  is  the  Paris  of  the  Musalmdns 
of  India,  will  illustrate  the  matter  here  spoken  of. 
The  author  has  partly  got  up  to  the  European  idea 
that  the  earth  is  round;  but  he  takes  it  to  be  a  circu- 
lar plane.  His  map  of  the  whole  world  is  therefore 
shaped  like  one  hemisphere  of  our  maps.  Instead  of 
dividing  it  into  zones  equally  .each  side  of  the 
equator,  he  has  adopted  their  old  idea  of  seven  clim- 
ates all  north  of  the  equator,  which  he  has  put  far 
south  of  its  true  place.  As  to  the  countries  of  Asia, 
their  relative  positions  are  not  ludicrously  wrong;  but 
most  of  the  countries  of  Europe  are  small  islands 
northwest  of  Asia.  One  of  these  islands  is  gravely 
called  Europe,  another  England,  another  London ; 
another,  a  very  small  one,  Spain;  and  another,  three 
times  as  large  as  that  called  Spain,  is  named  Andalu- 


184  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

sia!  America  is  nowhere;  but  one  of  its  towns  is  on 
the  western  coast  of  Africa. 

These  things  are  enough  to  show  that  missionaries 
and  other  Europeans  have  a  science  and  literature  to 
create  for  India;  except  so  far  as  East  Indians  and 
native  Christians  may  be  enlisted  in  this  great  work. 
I  might  show  this  further  if  I  would  go  into  an  exam- 
ination of  their  poetry  and  works  of  fiction,  and  dis- 
play their  corrupt  character;  but  that  can  easily  be 
imagined,  and  it  would  not  be  decent  to  write  about 
it.  Government  school  teachers  will  aid  in  this  work 
materially;  but  as  they  have  very  little  to  do  with 
teaching  Christianity,  their  eiforts  will  tend  to  pull 
down  the  edifice  of  falsehood,  more  than  to  build  up 
religious  truth. 

Our  missions  have  not  been  backward  in  helping  in 
this  branch  of  the  work.  The  reader  will  remember 
the  statement  that  the  Rev.  James  Wilson  furnished 
several  of  our  first  tracts  at  Allahabad.  He  also  did 
the  greater  part  of  the  work  of  preparing  notes  on  the 
Koran,  which  we  published  in  the  Roman  character. 
The  translation  in  Urdu  is  by  a  Mohammedan,  made 
for  their  own  purposes.  The  notes  are  intended  to 
furnish  missionaries  and  catechists  with  arguments  in 
controversy.  Our  friend  E.  G.  Eraser,  Esq.  fur- 
nished Mr.  Wilson  with  the  materials  for  a  great  part 
of  the  notes;  and  he  wrought  them  into  form,  and 
added  to  them.  My  part  of  the  work  was  an  occa- 
sional suggestion  and  clipping  of  redundancies,  and 
making  the  indices.  Mr.  Wilson  also  assisted  in  get- 
ting out  the  first  complete  edition  of  the  Urdu  Old 
Testament,  called  that  of  Messrs.  Shurman  and  Haw- 
kins. 

A  volume  of  sermons  in  Urdu,  for  the  native 
Christians,  was  projected,  collected  and  published  by 
our  mission.  Its  authors  were  numerous,  including 
most  of  our  missionaries,  who  were  then  in  the 
country. 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  185 

The  first  Bible  in  Hindi  was  a  translation  from 
the  English.  When  the  work  began  to  be  out  of 
print,  the  North  India  Bible  Society  took  measures 
to  have  it  thoroughly  revised.  Mr.  Owen  of  our  mis- 
sion was  appointed  editor  of  the  work.  There  were 
others  on  the  translation  committee,  of  whom  I  was 
one;  but  the  business  was  almost  all  done  by  Mr. 
Owen.  My  share  of  it  was  a  few  suggestions  as  to 
certain  passages,  and  the  commencement  of  the  print- 
ing of  it.  In  this  book,  ornamental  and  large  letters 
are  used  in  the  beginning  of  the  chapters,  the  first 
work  in  the  Ndgari  letter  that  has  been  printed  in  this 
manner. 

The  Urdti  Bible  was  soon  expended,  and  a  new 
edition  needed.  It  was  generally  agreed  that  it  re- 
quired some  revision.  The  late  Rev.  J.  A.  Shurman, 
of  Benares,  was  requested  to  revise  it,  assisted  by  me. 
His  valuable  life  was  cut  short  when  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  about  half  done ;  and  I  finished  it,  with  such 
assistance  as  I  could  get — not  attempting  so  close  a 
revision,  however,  as  the  first  part  had  received.  It 
is  not  probable  that  the  translation  is  yet  quite  as  good 
as  it  ought  to  be,  and  we  may  look  for  further  improve- 
ments. The  New  Testament  revision  was  in  the  hands 
of  a  separate  committee. 

The  Lodiana  Mission,  assisted  by  the  late  Rev.  W. 
Bowley,  of  the  English  Church  Missionary  Society, 
published  a  book  of  Psalms  and  Hymns  at  our  press 
at  Allahabad.  That  edition  has  been  used  up,  and 
several  of  our  missionaries  were  lately  engaged  in 
revising  and  greatly  improving  the  work  for  repub- 
lication. 

The  same  mission  has  produced  a  large  number  of 
tracts  and  books.  Their  most  considerable  works  are, 
the  greater  part  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
Psalms,  in  the  Panj&bi  language,  and  a  large  dic- 
tionary arid  a  grammar  of  that  language. 

I  cannot  fully  detail  the  work  done  by  our  missions*, 
16* 


186  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

through  the  presses.  My  own  part  of  it,  beside  that 
mentioned  above,  has  been  as  follows :  1.  Eight  ori- 
ginal lectures  on  the  eighth  chapter  of  Proverbs.  2.  A 
translation  (with  additions)  of  the  American  Tract 
Society's  tract  on  the  New  Birth.  3.  A  translation 
of  Gallaudet's  Ruth.  4.  A  translation  of  Watts  and 
Henry  on  Prayer,  as  prepared  by  Dr.  Bouton,  of 
Concord,  N.  EL,  with  an  original  introductory  lecture. 

5.  A  translation  of  the  Dairyman's  Daughter;  and, 

6,  of  the  Young  Cottager.    7.  A  translation  of  Flavel'a 
Fountain  of  Life.     8.  A  translation  of  Dr.  Hodge's 
Way  of  Life. 

My  connection  with  the  press  also  caused  me  a  great 
deal  of  labour  in  looking  over  other  people's  books,  and 
preparing  their  copy  for  the  press.  This,  and  the  part 
that  I  took  in  fthe  translation  of  our  Confession  of 
Faith  and  Catechisms,  probably  amounted  to  half  as 
much  labour  as  the  translation  of  the  works  above 
named.  The  subject  of  job-work,  and  of  work  and 
assistance  rendered  to  me  by  my  catechist,  has  been 
mentioned  in  the  third  and  fourth  chapters. 

A  peculiar  kind  of  perplexity  is  felt  by  all  who  at- 
tempt translation  into  an  oriental  language,  more  than 
by  those  who  are  rendering  one  European  language 
into  another.  I  have  no  other  reason  for  mentioning 
this  here,  than  that  it  illustrates  the  state  of  mind  and 
opinion  on  certain  subjects,  amongst  both  Mohamme- 
dans and  Hindus.  This  perplexity  arises  from  the 
fact  that  words  meaning,  or  rather  appearing  to  mean, 
the  same  as  some  English  word,  do  not  convey  the 
same  idea  to  a  native  mind  that  they  do  to  ours.  We 
need  to  go  back  of  the  dictionary,  and  find  out  of 
what  the  idea  in  question  is  composed,  in  a  native's 
mind.  For  example,  the  word  gundh  in  Urdu,  and 
pap  in  Hindi,  mean  sin.  But  if  we  were  to  ask  either 
Musalmdn  or  Hindti,  What  is  sin?  he  would  define  it 
very  differently  from  what  we  should  do.  The  Musal- 
would  consider  touching  a  dog  as  real,  though 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  187 

perhaps  not  so  great,  a  sin  as  killing  a  man.  He 
would  think  it  as  offensive  to  God,  if  not  so  mis- 
chievous otherwise.  His  conscience  would  condemn 
him  as  readily  for  mistake  in  the  forms  of  prayer,  as 
for  not  praying  at  all;  and  for  breaking  a  fast,  as  for 
picking  a  pocket,  especially  if  it  were  the  pocket  of  an 
unbeliever.  A  Hindu  would  consider  his  spittle  falling 
on  his  person  to  be  sin,  and  probably  would  not  in  the 
least  be  troubled  by  lying  and  cheating;  because  an 
outward  defilement  interdicts  religious  services  and 
eating  with  his  caste,  while  acts  that  we  call  sinful  do 
no  such  thing.  Naya  janam,  or  nai  paidaish,  means 
the  new  birth;  but  a  Hindti  left  to  himself  would  sup- 
pose these  terms  to  mean  the  transmigration  of  the 
soul  into  another  body,  in  which  to  be  born  the  second 
time.  A  Musalmdn  would  certainly  ask  Nicodemus's 
question  about  it.  Pdkizagi  and  pabitrtd  mean  purity 
or  holiness.  But  a  Musalman  thinks  holiness  is  being 
washed  with  water;  and  a  Hindti  thinks  it  to  be  the 
same,  or  to  be  marked  with  ashes,  mud  from  the 
Ganges,  or  cowdung,  or  to  possess  a  certain  kind  of 
stone,  or  to  live  at  Benares,  or  to  see  the  Ganges,  or 
any  one  of  a  thousand  more  things.  Pdkl  is  only 
another  form  of  pdkizagi,  and  ought  also  to  mean  holi- 
ness; but  colloquially  it  is  applied  to  shaving  off  all 
the  hairs  of  the  body,  save  those  on  the  head.  These 
statements  have  been  suggested  to  me  by  the  recol- 
lection that  our  mission  once  published  a  list  of  theo- 
logical terms  in  English  and  Hindustani,  in  the  hope 
of  aiding  to  settle  some  vexed  questions  amongst  mis- 
sionaries. 

No  more  appropriate  close  of  this  chapter  can  be 
found  than  the  questions  —  Ought  the  Church  to 
grudge  her  best  men  to  such  a  work  as  the  formation 
of  the  literature  of  the  thirty  millions  of  Upper  India? 
And  it  is  not  for  this  thirty  millions  only:  their  lan- 
guage is  more  or  less  known  all  over  India,  and  their 
literature  always  has  influenced,  and  always  will  in- 


188  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

fluence,  that  of  various  other  dialects  and  languages 
of  Central  and  Southern  India.  North  India  is  the 
home  of  all  the  great  races  of  the  country,  and  the 
source  of  all  the  great  influences  that  have  spread 
over  the  whole  land.  Ought  her  very  best  men,  who 
have  taste  and  talent  for  teaching  hy  the  college  or 
the  press,  to  wish  for  a  better  field  than  one  where  so 
much  is  to  be  done?  Can  her  finest  linguists  find  a 
better  field  than  the  one  here  described?  I  take  it 
for  granted  that  these  questions  address  men  who  do 
not  ask,  Where  can  we  live  easiest  and  gain  most 
honour — where  can  we  get  most  worldly  good?  But, 
"Where  can  we  do  most  for  Christ,  and  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  highest  human  interests?  Certain  it  is, 
we  do  not  want  in  the  mission  field  men  of  any  other 
spirit.  But  ought  a  dull  scholar  to  be  sent  to  combat 
with  the  subtleties  of  an  elaborate  and  skilful  false 
philosophy?  Ought  one  without  fluency  or  address 
to  be  considered  "good  enough  for  a  missionary"  to 
a  people  polished,  accomplished,  quick,  subtle,  fluent 
and  conceited?  Ought  the  Church  to  keep  a  man  at 
home  because  he  is  a  man  of  talent — or  the  man  him- 
self to  object  to  "bury  himself  in  the  obscurity  of  a 
mission  field?"  My  sober  conviction,  after  seventeen 
years'  experience  and  observation,  is,  that  until  the 
Church  is  more  ready  to  send  out  her  first-rate  men, 
and  more  of  such  men  are  willing  to  go,  to  the  foreign 
missions,  she  will  not  have  done  her  duty,  nor  will  her 
missions  prosper  as  she  expects,  nor  will  she  at  home 
avoid  the  evils  attendant  upon  "  withholding  more 
than  is  meet." 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  189 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RELATIONS     WITH     EUROPEANS     AND     EAST    INDIANS,    AND     THEIR 
INFLUENCE    ON    OUR    WORK. 

THE  subject  of  this  chapter  is  not  very  directly  con- 
nected with  my  own  doings  as  a  missionary;  but  it  is 
intimately  so  with  my  experience; — and  a  full  view  of 
what  a  missionary  has  to  do  in  India,  and  of  his  com- 
forts, his  aids,  and  his  discouragements — in  a  word,  of 
his  life — cannot  be  given  without  an  account  of  hia 
connections  with  society. 

In  America,  every  man  of  good  education,  tolera- 
ble manners,  and  decent  dress,  is  considered  a  gentle- 
man. It  is  not  so  in  English  society.  Amongst  the 
English  in  India,  connection  and  profession  are  the 
paramount  distinctions.  A  commissioned  officer  is  a 
gentleman;  so  is  a  covenanted  civilian;  so  are  their 
sons,  though  they  may  not  succeed  in  getting  into 
either  of  these  professions,  and  have  to  put  up  with 
some  subordinate  appointment;  so  are  any  persons 
who  may  be  known  to  be  connected  with  the  upper, 
or  upper-middle  classes  of  England,  though  in  subor- 
dinate places;  so  are  medical  men  and  chaplains. 
Missionaries,  on  account  of  their  education,  but  mainly 
because  of  their  ordination,  are  admitted  to  this  so- 
ciety. If  there  is  ever  any  reserve  in  admitting 
them,  the  reason  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
many  early  English  missionaries  were  men  of  small 
education;  and  it  has  happened  that  some  persons  of 
very  low  origin  and  education  have  been  admitted  to 
the  office  in  India,  and  some  societies  and  individuals 
have  sent  out  as  missionaries  persons  who  were  not 
qualified  to  mix  in  society;  and  thus  the  social  position 
of  a  missionary  has  been  rendered  somewhat  doubtful, 
at  least  to  some  people,  who  are  fastidious.  Some  lew 
East  Indians,  connected  with  society  by  a  mixed  but 


190  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

legitimate  parentage,  and  some  illegitimate  offspring 
of  very  great  men,  are  admitted ;  but  the  great  body 
of  that  people  are  considered  to  be  out  of  it.  A  mer- 
chant, who  buys  articles  for  exportation,  is  a  gentle- 
man; but  if  the  same  man  keep  a  shop  for  selling 
anything  by  retail,  he  is  not  a  gentleman.  There  is 
no  great  fault  to  be  found  with  these  distinctions, 
except  that  they  are  a  little  too  unbending:  some 
persons  retain  their  places  in  society  by  their  connec- 
tions, who  are  unfit  for  it;  and  some,  from  want  of 
connections,  are  excluded  when  qualified  to  do  honour 
to  it.  Natives  of  rank  are  sometimes  found  in  public 
parties,  but  rarely  have  much  to  do  with  European 
society. 

It  is  the  custom  in  India  for  the  new  comer  to  a 
station  to  call  on  the  residents  with  whom  he  would 
like  to  be  acquainted.  Unless  it  be  ascertained  that 
the  person  so  calling  has  no  claim  to  the  society 
which  he  thus  seeks  to  be  admitted  to,  the  residents 
return  his  call;  and  if  he  be  a  married  man,  the  ladies 
go  to  see  his  w-ife.  If  they  are  persons  of  sufficient 
standing,  invitations  to  dinner  are  given  by  those  who 
return  the  call;  but  this  is  not  obligatory.  A  mis- 
sionary may  thus  call  on  whom  he  pleases,  and  very 
few  will  be  rude  enough  to  neglect  to  return  the  civil- 
ity. After  this,  people  of  a  quiet  turn,  and  the  de- 
cidedly religious,  invite  them  to  their  houses  occa- 
sionally; but  the  more  gay  and  worldly  treat  them 
with  only  civility.  But  when  the  missionary  family 
is  settled  in  a  place  for  a  considerable  time,  and  the 
English  residents  are  changed,  the  circle  of  their  ac- 
quaintance may  become  much  more  restricted;  for  the 
new  comers  may  not  be  devout  enough  to  wish  for  the 
acquaintance  of  religious  people,  and  therefore  will 
not  call  on  them,  while  the  missionary  is  thus  given 
to  understand  that  h^  may  keep  his  distance.  Casu- 
ally he  may  become  known  to  them,  but  generally  a 
large  part  of  the  residents  of  the  same  station  will 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  191 

remain  strangers  to  him.  At  a  small  station  this  will 
not  be  the  case  so  much  as  at  a  larger  one:  the  minor 
stations  contain  so  few  people,  that  there  is  both  more 
need  of  the  mission  family  in  society,  and  more  time 
to  attend  to  them;  while  at  the  larger  places  they  are 
of  less  consequence  to  other  people,  and  various  pub- 
lic amusements  and  parties  take  up  people's  time  suffi- 
ciently to  combat  a  faint  wish  to  cultivate  the  mission- 
ary's acquaintance,  if  it  were  in  existence. 

The  high  officers  of  government  acknowledge  our 
standing  by  occasionally  inviting  us  to  dinner.  The 
Governor  General,  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
army,  and  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Northwest 
Provinces,  have  done  this  repeatedly. 

At  the  same  time  that  we  have,  in  this  way,  a 
standing  with  the  highest,  we  are  not  excluded  from 
the  acquaintance  of  those  who  are  "not  in  society." 
Most  missionaries  freely  visit  respectable  persons 
who  are  not  recognized  as  having  any  rank,  and  some 
of  our  most  valued  friends  are  amongst  them.  In 
associating  with  them  we  very  probably  sometimes 
incur  the  scorn,  or  pity,  or  contempt  of  some  who  are 
"in  society,"  and  may  forfeit  some  civilities  from 
them.  I  have  experienced  something  of  this;  but 
never  had  any  doubt  about  which  class  I  could  most 
influence  for  good,  and  therefore  never  hesitated  to 
do  what  some  people  would  call  descending.  How- 
ever, it  is  generally  practically  acknowledged,  that  we 
may  go  where  we  please  without  losing  caste. 

At  the  larger  stations  it  is  sometimes  quite  a  task 
to  call  on  all  the  older  residents.  I  never  attempted 
it.  And  this  operates  to  hinder  some  persons  from 
making  the  acquaintance  of  missionaries.  And  some 
new  comers  at  a  station  probably  find  out  who  are  the 
covenanted  civil  officers,  and  the  officers  of  the  mili- 
tary force,  and  call  on  them  without  thinking  to  in- 
quire whether  there  are  others  who  may  be  entitled 
to  such  a  civility.  I  have  known  some  persons,  who 


192  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

had  lived  six  months  at  a  station  before  they  found 
out  that  that  there  were  any  missionaries  there;  and 
then  felt  delicate  about  calling  at  so  late  a  day. 
Others  stayed  away  altogether,  from  want  of  interest 
in  missions;  and  when  asked,  at  other  stations,  if  they 
had  known  the  missionaries,  and  anything  about  their 
•work,  answered,  in  substance,  "No;  I  hardly  ever 
heard  of  them,  and  saw  nothing  of  their  work.  I 
suppose  they  do  very  little  beside  living  well  and 
taking  it  easy."  No  doubt  these  people  are  often 
quite  honest  in  saying  such  things,  except  so  far  as 
they  are  culpable  for  not  taking  pains  to  see  what  was 
being  done. 

There  certainly  were  many  persons  at  Allahabad 
and  Agra,  during  my  residence  at  those  places,  who 
could  not  have  known  what  the  mission  was  doing; 
for  they  never  visited  the  press  or  the  schools,  and 
probably  never  asked  anybody  whether  there  were 
such  things.  They  never  encountered  any  native 
Christians;  for  none  of  them  were  engaged  in  busi- 
ness that  brought  them  into  contact  with  Europeans 
outside  of  the  mission.  They  never,  or  rarely,  could 
see  us  at  our  preaching  places,  because  they  rode  on 
the  high  roads  outside  of  the  city,  and  avoided  the 
places  where  the  natives  mostly  congregate,  on  ac- 
count of  the  various  unpleasant  things  that  assail  the 
senses  there — and  these  were  the  very  places  where 
some  of  us  could  have  been  seen  frequently.  A  gen- 
tleman residing  in  a  country  house  outside  of  New 
York,  never  going  to  church  when  he  can  avoid  it, 
never  seeing  a  religious  periodical,  avoiding  all  reli- 
gious society,  and  never  making  any  inquiries  what- 
ever as  to  religious  people  or  movements,  and,  more- 
over, being  much  predisposed  to  look  on  all  such  with 
dislike,  may  easily  come  to  believe  and  say,  (and  such 
people  do  say,)  that  the  American  Bible  Society  does 
no  real  work,  and  uses  its  funds  corruptly.  Such  a 
gentleman  would  be  a  fair  parallel  to  many  who  have 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  193 

lived  in  India,  and  have  done  missions  a  mischief,  be- 
cause it  was  supposed  that  they  must  know  all  about 
them  from  having  been  on  the  spot.  I  have  known  two 
American  travellers  to  move  together  through  the  pro- 
vinces we  occupy,  and  never  come  near  one  of  our 
places,  though  at  the  same  stations;  and  at  the  same 
time  that  they  were  making  themselves  ridiculous  there 
by  reporting  the  Unitarian  to  be  the  largest  and  leading 
denomination  in  America,  they  were,  as  many  Ameri- 
cans will  naturally  believe,  qualifying  themselves  to 
report  on  our  missions.  Another,  and  much  more 
distinguished  traveller,  being  a  man  of  a  gentlemanly 
mind  as  well  as  station,  though  not  agreeing  with  us 
in  religious  opinion,  came  to  us  as  a  fellow-country- 
man ought  to  do,  looked  at  our  work  and  made  himself 
able  to  report  it  fairly,  so  far  as  his  own  theological 
system  allowed  him  to  see  it  in  the  right  light,  gave 
us  a  great  pleasure  by  making  use  of  us,  and  got  some 
of  his  best  information  for  his  letters  from  us.  But 
there  are  few  like  him.  A  hundred  intelligent  young 
men  may  easily  be  found,  who  have  each  spent  five 
years  in  India,  whose  combined  knowledge  of  it  is  not 
equal  to  that  gathered  by  him  in  a  few  weeks.  Many 
pay  no  attention  to  anything  but  their  regiments  and 
their  amusements. 

But  there  are  almost  always  a  few  truly  devout  and 
religious  persons  at  every  station,  who  kindly  take 
notice  of  the  missionaries,  and  encourage  them  in 
their  work.  His  heart  must  be  insensible  indeed,  who 
fails  to  feel  great  gratitude  for  the  comfort  derived 
from  such  society  and  such  help,  and  the  most  sincere 
friendship  to  such  persons.  It  would,  of  course,  be 
invidious  to  name  such  friends,  and  they  would  not 
desire  it ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  acknowledge  their 
kindness  at  least  in  general  terms.  And  the  English 
community  in  India,  considered  as  a  whole,  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly liberal  one,  both  in  feeling,  and  in  pecuniary 
aid  to  missionary  efforts.  Their  liberality  as  to  money 
17 


194  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

•will  appear  from  what  will  be  stated  hereafter.  Their 
kind  feeling  and  true  charity  towards  those  who  are  of 
different  denominations,  deserves  special  notice  here. 
There  are  very  few  indeed  who  look  superciliously 
upon  dissenters ;  and  no  regular  missionary  is  without 
help  in  supporting  his  schools,  building  his  chapels, 
and  carrying  on  any  of  his  operations  that  may  re- 
quire extra  outlay.  Presbyterian  missions  sometimes 
meet  with  a  degree  of  special  favour,  as  not  being 
English  dissenters;  but  the  difference  made  is  not 
great,  nor  often  perceived.  As  a  matter  of  course  the 
missions  of  the  English  Church  are  better  supported 
than  any  others;  and  they  ought  to  be  so  by  their 
own  people.  Their  missionaries  are  more  noticed  in 
society,  as  is  but  natural  too ;  but  other  missionaries 
cannot  complain  of  any  want  of  kindness,  or  of  any 
tendency  to  hand  them  over  to  "uncoverianted  mer- 
cies." Where  there  are  many  men,  there  will  be 
some  weak  and  bigoted  men;  and  we  have  now  and 
then  encountered  one  who  evidently  thought  us  an 
evil — perhaps  a  chaplain,  who  spoke  of  us  contemptu- 
ously, or  tried  to  keep  his  people  from  aiding  us;  but 
such  men  have  had  bad  success,  and  always  injured 
themselves  by  anything  like  active  hostility.  Epis- 
copal missionaries  journey  and  preach  with  us  to  the 
heathen,  notwithstanding  the  silly  law,  by  which  the 
English  Church  has  excommunicated  herself  from  all 
the  rest  of  Christendom,  by  denying  ministerial  com- 
munion to  all  out  of  her  own  pale.  Some  of  my  oldest 
and  dearest  frier ds  are  of  their  number. 

The  benefit  of  the  association  of  missionaries  with 
English  society  is  not  confined  to  the  missionaries. 
There  have  been  many  cases  of  conversion,  resulting 
from  their  labours,  both  amongst  Englishmen  of  all 
grades,  and  the  East  Indians.  Many  anecdotes  might 
be  told  to  show  that  the  benefits  of  missions  are  not 
confined  to  the  natives.  The  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Agra,  and  four  large  European  and  East  Indian  con- 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  195 

gregations  at  Calcutta,  are  the  fruit  of  missionary 
labour.  Numerous  individuals  have  been  brought  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  who  have  afterward  been 
very  useful  to  the  various  missions  in  the  country. 
Our  own  missions  have  been  useful  in  this  respect; 
and  it  would  give  me  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  to  record 
instances  of  this  kind,  did  not  delicacy  forbid. 

Formerly  the  chaplains  on  the  East  India  Compa- 
ny's establishment  were  generally  worldly  men ;  too 
often  a  discredit  to  Christianity,  and  a  snare  to  their 
people.  They  are  appointed  by  the  Court  of  Directors 
in  such  a  way  that  the  appointments  are  virtually  made 
by  single  individuals;  and  if  a  director  has  a  nephew 
or  friend  in  orders,  whose  circumstances  make  such  an 
appointment  desirable,  he  puts  him  on  the  Company's 
establishment,  sometimes  without  any  regard  to  his 
character  or  habits;  and  thus  it  happens  that  some  of 
the  chaplains  still  are,  and  almost  all  of  them  used  to 
be,  as  utterly  without  religion  as  any  person  in  decent 
society  can  be.  And  it  is  easier  to  convict  a  man  of 
felony  in  a  criminal  court,  than  to  get  rid  of  a  clergy- 
man who  is  a  disgrace  to  his  profession.  When,  after 
the  revival  of  religion  commenced  in  England,  and, 
through  the  exertions  of  Dr.  Buchanan  and  one  or  two 
pious  directors,  a  few  pious  chaplains  were  sent  out, 
the  great  change  commenced.  The  Baptist  Mission 
at  Serampore  was  flourishing  at  that  time,  and  there 
began  to  be  some  Englishmen  in  India,  who  had  not, 
as  the  proverbial  expression  went,  thrown  their  bap- 
tism overboard  when  passing  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
Then  missionaries  were  sent  into  various  parts  of  the 
country;  and  their  devout  and  correct  deportment 
made  it  no  longer  possible  for  a  drunken  or  wicked 
chaplain  to  hold  up  his  head  in  society,  unless  he  were 
a  man  of  extraordinary  effrontery.  Pious  gentlemen 
and  ladies,  whose  piety  was  often  the  fruit  of  mission- 
ary labour,  also  influenced  the  chaplains  favourably. 
As  soon  as  religion  began  to  take  the  place  of  impiety 


196  *  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

in  this  way,  the  effect  of  it  extended  in  some  measure  to 
the  Court  of  Directors;  and  many  gentlemen  amongst 
them  have  conscientiously  used  their  power  of  nomi- 
nating chaplains,  so  that  now  many  of  them  are  truly 
worthy  men,  in  many  cases  aiding  missions  as  much 
as  they  can,  and  some  performing  in  a  manner  the 
work  of  missionaries  themselves.  The  great  majority 
of  the  chaplains,  indeed,  do  credit  to  the  religion  they 
profess ;  though,  a  large  number  of  the  most  exem- 
plary being  Tractarians,  there  are  comparatively  few 
willing  to  be  seen  countenancing  the  missions  of  any 
other  Church  than  their  own. 

The  present  venerable  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  and  his 
Archdeacon,  are  men  of-  the  right  sort.  They  have 
not  hesitated  to  visit  our  schools,  to  encourage  us,  to 
recommend  our  operations  to  the  notice  and  help  of 
their  people,  and  to  take  our  part  in  conversations 
with  their  own  Tractarian  clergymen.  But  though 
they  do  all  this  in  passing  through  the  country,  as  did 
also  the  present  Bishop  of  Madras,  Dr.  Dealtry,  when 
Archdeacon  of  Calcutta,  yet  when  they  come  to  pub- 
lish the  account  of  their  tours,  they  are  obliged  to 
follow  the  policy  of  a  State  Church,  and  see  nobody  in 
the  field  but  themselves.  From  their  accounts,  one 
would  never  dream  that  they  had  kindly  visited  our 
schools,  or  even  heard  of  them.  But  if  the  exigencies 
of  their  official  position  prevent  them  from  telling  that 
they  did  so  truly  a  Christian  thing  as  to  encourage  and 
treat  kindly  Presbyterians,  my  position,  happily,  allows 
me  to  acknowledge  their  kindness  with  gratitude  and 
thanks. 

Bishop  Wilson  has  always  treated  us  personally  with 
great  kindness.  He  caused  all  our  mission  to  be  in- 
vited to  meet  him  at  a  large  dinner  party  at  Allahabad. 
My  wife  cherishes  a  volume  of  his  sermons,  which  he 
gave  her,  with  his  autograph  on  the  title-page ;  and  he 
prayed  publicly  for  our  mission  by  name  at  this  party, 
and  named  it  in  a  sermon  in  the  church.  The  Bishop 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  197 

is  most  affable.  At  a  breakfast,  where  I  met  him,  I 
blundered  into  a  discussion  with  him  concerning  the 
proper  interpretation  of  a  verse  in  the  New  Testament. 
When  he  found  that  his  own  clergymen,  who  were 
present,  agreed  with  me,  and  that  the  commentaries 
gave  him  no  support,  he  gave  up  with  perfect  good 
nature,  showing  no  disposition  to  resent,  or  to  stand 
upon  his  official  dignity.  He  is  accustomed  to  pray  for 
guests,  and  any  friends  in  special  danger  or  affliction, 
by  name.  When  I  was  last  in  Calcutta,  he  invited  me 
to  one  of  his  public  breakfasts,  and  at  morning  worship 
named  me,  prayed  for  our  church,  "  for  all  the  churches 
in  that  great  country  from  which  he  comes,  and  finally 
for  all  the  family  of  Protestant  churches  throughout 
the  world."  A  great  many  anecdotes  of  his  eccentric 
manners  are  afloat  in  India;  but  I  will  not  repeat  them. 
These  are  sufficient  to  illustrate,  so  far,  our  position 
and  relations  to  the  Episcopal  Church  in  India. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  easily  be  gathered, 
that  the  state  of  religion  is  better  now  than  formerly 
in  the  nominally  Christian  community  in  India;  and 
this  is  true.  I  do  not  know  that  there  has  been  much 
change  for  the  better  amongst  the  purely  European 
part  of  the  population  in  the  last  fifteen  years,  nor 
has  there  been  any  deterioration;  but  there  has  been 
a  great  improvement  in  the  East  Indian  class:  there 
are  a  great  many  more  of  them  now  than  then,  who 
take  a  part  in  religious  movements.  For  further  in- 
formation as  to  this  class  of  persons,  I  must  refer  the 
reader  to  the  article  especially  relating  to  them  in 
in  this  volume. 

Various  intimations  of  having  received  pecuniary 
aid  in  India,  for  several  of  our  schemes,  have  been 
given.  It  will  be  gratifying  to  the  friends  of  mis- 
sions in  America  to  hear  to  what  extent,  and  how  op- 
portunely, the  help  of  the  English  community  has 
been  given  to  us;  and  therefore  I  will  mention,  some- 
what in  detail,  the  matters  in  which  they  have  aided 
17* 


198  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

us  within  my  experience.  All  our  -missions  have  had 
similar  experience. 

In  speaking,  in  the  fifth  chapter,  of  the  way  in 
which  the  mission  church  and  one  of  the  chapels  at 
Allahabad  were  built,  I  have  already  acknowledged 
important  assistance. 

In  addition  to  the  account  already  given  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Agra,  the  following  statement 
is  made  to  exhibit  the  influence  of  Europeans  and 
East  Indians  on  our  work.  The  members  of  this 
church,  after  arriving  at  Agra,  and  finding  themselves 
without  a  minister  or  place  of  meeting,  formed  an 
alliance  with  an  open  communion  Baptist  church. 
They  attended  the  services  there,  and  assisted  in  pay- 
ing the  pastor.  Not  long  after  this  arrangement  was 
entered  upon,  Mr.  Wilson  from  Allahabad  and  Mr. 
Rankin  from  Futtehgurh,  were  sent  to  Agra  to  form 
a  new  station  of  our  missions  there.  They  had  every 
thing  to  begin  anew.  For  this  reason  they  were  in- 
duced to  join  the  alliance  with  the  Baptists;  at  first  it 
was  certainly  understood  that  the  Presbyterians  were 
to  enjoy  equal  privileges  with  the  original  congrega- 
tion ;  at  least,  the  Presbyterians  thought  it  was  st) 
understood.  But  soon  our  people  learned  that  they 
were  not  to  be  allowed  to  baptize  a  child  in  the  cha- 
pel, though  it  was  ostentatiously  called  "  The  Union 
Chapel,"  and  the  imrnersionists  had  a  cistern  in  it, 
and  administered  baptism  in  their  own  way  there. 
The  Presbyterians  did  not  complain  of  this,  for  they 
were  willing  to  accord  some  kind  of  precedence  to 
those  who  had  first  occupied  the  place.  The  other 
party,  however,  seemed  to  be  hurt  by  our  friends' 
baptizing  the  child  at  all  while  in  connection  with 
them,  though  it  was  done  in  a  private  house;  and 
they  seemed  determined,  therefore,  to  crush  out  the 
last  appearances  of  Presbyterianism  at  once.  Accord- 
ingly when  the  Presbyterian  part  of  this  curiously 
constructed  church  had  received  a  new  member,  and 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  *  199 

•wished  to  ordain  him  as  a  Ruling  Elder,  and  one  of 
the  original  Allahabad  members  had  consented  to  be 
ordained  as  Deacon,  they  refused  to  allow  a  special 
service  to  be  held  in  the  chapel  for  this  purpose. 
They  could  have  had  no  other  good  reason  for  refusing 
than  that  which  is  here  supposed.  It  was  manifestly 
to  their  injury  to  do  so.  They  probably  thought  they 
could  prevent  our  further  organization ;  and  they  were 
permitted  by  Providence  to  try  to  do  it,  in  order  that 
it  might  lead  the  Presbyterians  to  separate  from 
them,  and  exert  themselves  to  build  up  a  church  ac- 
cording to  their  own  consciences,  without  any  undue 
compliances;  at  any  rate  this  was  the  result.  Messrs. 
Wilson  and  Rankin  commenced  services  in  a  private 
room ;  and  when  the  new  mission-house  was  finished, 
the  service  was  held  in  that  until  the  end  of  Novem- 
ber, 1851.  Mr.  Rankin  was  soon  obliged  to  leave 
the  station,  and  finally  the  country,  by  ill-health, 
after  which  Mr.  Wilson  continued  to  be  pastor  till  he 
also  left  Agra  for  America  in  the  latter  part  of  1850. 
I  was  at  Agra  on  a  visit,  which  was  connected  with  a 
preaching  tour,  a  little  while  before  Mr.  Wilson  left, 
and  he  and  I  pressed  the  wants  of  the  place  so  upon 
the  notice  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Scott,  who  went  out  to 
India  with  me,  and  was  then  at  Futtehgurh,  that  he 
consented  to  occupy  it  for  a  year,  if  I  would  then  re- 
lieve him,  if  possible.  There  was  another  special 
reason  for  our  keeping  some  one  at  Agra,  besides 
considerations  connected  with  this  congregation,  which 
will  appear  in  a  future  paragraph.  Mr.  Scott  re- 
mained a  year,  and  preached  to  this  people  amongst 
other  engagements;  when  I  succeeded  him  in  the  same 
for  a  year  and  a  half.  I  was  followed  in  the  pastoral 
charge  by  a  minister  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Grieve  Clark.  Mr.  Clark  did  not 
remain  long.  He  accepted  a  call  to  a  Free  church 
in  Bombay.  It  was  a  disagreeable  thing  to  be  obliged 
to  transfer  this  church  to  other  hands ;  but  as  it  did 


200  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

not  result  in  any  rupture  of  most  friendly  relations, 
and  as  the  church  has  amicably  come  back  to  us,  the 
subject  need  only  to  be  thus  referred  to,  amongst 
the  things  that  have  a  bearing  on  our  relations  in 
India. 

This  church  has  built  for  itself  a  very  pretty, 
though  very  singular  edifice,  at  a  cost  of  about  six 
thousand  dollars.  It  is  well  placed  for  the  civil  sta- 
tion, but  fully  three  miles  from  the  military.  The 
members  of  this  church,  when  they  began  to  build, 
gave  each  a  month's  income,  except  in  the  case  of 
ladies  whose  husbands  did  not  belong  to  our  body. 
One  such  lady,  however,  paid  for  the  steeple  and  pul- 
pit, as  special  donations.  The  remainder  of  the  money 
was  chiefly  raised  by  a  subscription  amongst  the 
English  community  at  that  and  other  stations ;  but 
there  were  various  little  matters,  in  the  finishing  and 
fitting  up  of  the  place,  that  caused  several  supplemen- 
tary subscriptions,  which  bore  heavily  on  the  mem- 
bers, and  were  met  with  a  very  good  spirit.  This 
was  a  great  undertaking  for  so  small  a  church,  and 
the  aid  they  received  from  the  public  was  very  libe- 
ral. The  property  vests  in  the  church,  not  in  the 
mission.  The  new  building  was  dedicated  on  the  first 
Sabbath  of  December,  1851,  after  my  arrival  at  the 
place,  and  just  before  Mr.  Scott's  departure.  Seve- 
ral new  members  were  admitted  on  this  occasion. 

Several  gentlemen  not  connected  with  any  mis- 
sion have  contributed  handsomely  to  the  printing  of 
works  in  behalf  of  Christianity.  I  have  not  space  to 
attempt  an  enumeration  of  these  works,  though  I 
notice  the  subject  as  a  most  interesting  one.  Some 
have  written  tracts,  and  procured  their  publication. 
The  desire  to  use  the  press  is  sure  to  grow  up  in  a 
cultivated  community ;  and  therefore  the  connection 
between  missions  and  the  Europeans  and  East  Indians 
is  likely,  in  this  respect,  to  be  of  still  more  impor- 
tance in  future. 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  201 

A  Tract  and  Book  Society  existed  for  some  time  at 
Benares,  and  received  a  considerable  amount  in  con- 
tributions from  Europeans ;  but,  its  support  after  a 
time  falling  off,  its  action  has  ceased  for  some  years 
past.  Our  press  once  had  an  alliance  with  this 
Society,  so  that  its  publications  were  put  on  the 
American  Tract  Society's  list,  and  the  number  that 
one  society  alone  could  have  printed  was  thus  doubled. 
A  Tract  Society  has  for  some  time  been  pretty  well 
supported  by  the  English  community  at  Agra,  and  is 
publishing  a  valuable  series  of  tracts  for  the  natives. 
It  also  keeps  a  depot  of  English  religious  books,  for 
the  supply  of  residents  in  North  India,  which  is  a 
very  useful  part  of  its  operations.  A  Bible  Society 
was  formed  at  Agra  when  Mr.  Wilson  first  went  there, 
and  he  was  chosen  its  Secretary;  and  those  of  us, 
who  have  filled  his  place  in  the  mission,  have  been  its 
Secretaries  ever  since.  The  connection,  which  it  was 
desirable  that  we  should  maintain  with  these  Socie- 
ties, has  at  all  times  been  one  of  our  reasons  for 
retaining  Agra  as  a  station.  In  addition  to  these 
great  societies,  which  are  intended  for  the  whole 
North-west  Provinces,  there  is  a  Protestant  Associa- 
tion at  Agra,  intended  to  meet  the  efforts  of  the 
Papists,  who  have  made  that  place  the  seat  of  a 
Bishopric.  This  association  has  published  some 
lectures  which  I  delivered  at  Agra,  called  out  by  the 
aggressive  movements  of  the  Papists ;  and  will  fur- 
ther exert  itself  to  supply  the  community  with  such 
books  and  tracts  as  may  be  an  antidote  to  the  poison 
sowed  by  them. 

A  female  day-school  at  Allahabad  is  a  very  good 
example  of  many  similar  operations,  which  are  sup- 
ported by  the  European  community.  It  was  estab- 
lished, superintended,  and  supported  by  subscriptions 
gathered,  by  several  ladies  in  succession,  till  at  last 
its  superintendence  was  handed  over  to  our  mission. 
It  is  still  doing  its  p^-t  towards  introducing  female 


202  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

education  into  India.  This  school  was  got  up  and 
maintained  by  ladies  of  the  first  rank  in  society ;  and 
a  very  similar  one  is  taught,  and  mostly  supported,  at 
Agra,  by  one  of  the  most  humble  of  East  Indian 
women.  We  thus  see  how  the  cause  of  truth  is  aided 
equally  by  persons  at  either  end  of  the  social  scale. 
At  all  our  stations  we  receive  valuable  aid  from  the 
English  to  support  our  high  and  vernacular  schools. 
Some  schools  at  out  stations  are  entirely  sustained  by 
them.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  several  more  able 
and  trustworthy  native  Christian  teachers  than  we 
have  at  our  disposal  would  be  cheerfully  supported  in 
various  places  by  the  friends  residing  there.  I  have 
had  a  great  deal  to  do  in  collecting  these  subscrip- 
tions, and  know  that  their  amount  could  at  any  time 
have  been  increased,  had  circumstances  demanded  it. 

Our  schools  at  Agra  are  in  a  special  manner  con- 
nected with  the  European  and  East  Indian  community, 
both  by  their  origin  and  their  object.  As  it  is  desir- 
able that  our  plans  as  to  these  schools  should  be  well 
known,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  give  a  rather  full 
account  of  them ;  and  to  do  so  it  will  be  necessary  to 
go  back  and  give  some  intimations  of  what  preceded 
them. 

When  all  the  government  offices  had  been  concen- 
trated at  Agra,  the  European  and  East  Indian  popu- 
lation became  very  large.  Amongst  Protestants 
there  was  only  one  school  of  even  respectable  charac- 
ter for  the  poorer  English  and  East  Indians ;  and  the 
terms  of  that  were  so  high,  that  comparatively  few 
could  avail  themselves  of  it.  It  was  kept  by  an  East 
Indian  Baptist  minister,  who  had  formerly  been  a 
missionary  in  connection  with  the  Serampore  mission. 
He  was  a  very  good  man,  and  not  a  poor  scholar ;  but 
still  he  and  his  wife  were  no  match  for  the  Popish 
priests  and  nuns,  who  had  Set  up  boys'  and  girls' 
schools  there,  and  were  likely  to  do  Protestantism  no 
small  harm.  This  gentleman  being  a  Baptist,  and  his 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  203 

school    private  property,   having    no  public  body  to 
guaranty  either  its  efficiency  or  its  permanence,  pre- 
vented the  Christian  public  from   aiding  it,  so  as  to 
cheapen  it  and  render  it  more  efficient.     Though  the 
community  would  fully  allow  that  Baptists  are  true 
Christians,  they  very  naturally  objected  to  their  chil- 
dren being  educated  where  they  would  be  very  likely 
to   contract   a    prejudice   against    the  views  of  their 
parents,  on  so  important   a  matter  as  baptism.     But 
this   consideration    had  less  weight  there   than    the 
necessity  of  some  cheaper  and  more  efficient  school, 
to   educate  Protestant  youth,  and  to   counteract  the 
manifest  schemes  of  the  Papists.     Therefore  several 
leading  gentlemen  in  the  government  service  took  up 
the  matter,  contributed  a   large  sum  of  money,  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  management,  bought  one  house 
and  hired  another,  engaged  an  Episcopal  clergyman 
and  his  wife  as  principals,  and  established  The  Pro- 
testant Academy  in   male  and  female  departments. 
Our  Mr.  Wilson  was  one  of  the  committee,  and  one  of 
our  ruling  elders  was  the  committee's  secretary.    The 
Baptist  minister,  whose  school  was  injured  by  the  new 
one,  was  appointed  one  of  its  teachers.    Thus  a  strong 
effort  was  made  to  unite  all  kinds  of  Protestants  in  its 
support.    By  great  exertions  a  large  number  of  pupils 
•were   collected,  and  all  went  on  well  at  first.     But 
there  were  two  fatal  defects  in  the  plan: — it  was  not 
possible  to  make  the  tuition  fees  low  enough  to  secure 
the  original  design;  arid  its  prosperity  depended  on  a 
single  life,  or  the  health  of  a  single  man.     The  prin- 
cipal belonged  to  no  body  of  men  who  could  always 
supply  his  place  when  needful.     After  a  short  time 
the  principal  became  ill,  and  was  obliged  to  resign  his 
appointment.     His"  place  was  supplied,  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  some  good  people  in  Calcutta,  by  a  man 
•whom  the  bishop  ordained  for  the  purpose — supposed 
to  be  a  very  good  man,  and   therefore  thought,  by 
those  who  recommended  him,  to  be  fit  for  anything 


204  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

up  the  country.  But  he  proved  to  be  without  talent, 
skill  or  learning.  Under  him  the  institution  died  a 
death  so  sudden,  that  it  was  clearly  proved  to  have 
had  no  stamina  before.  The  Baptist  minister,  even 
•while  the  servant  of  the  institution,  issued  private  cir- 
culars giving  notice  to  parents  that  he  would  re-estab- 
lish his  school,  seceded  with  a  number  of  the  pupils, 
and  contributed  to  the  ruin  of  the  academy.  The 
committee  were  soon  left  without  teachers  or  scholars, 
and  with  a  debt  amounting  to  considerably  more  than 
the  property  in  hand. 

Soon  after  the  failure  of  this  institution  its  friends, 
especially  the  late  Mr.  Thomason,  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor,  began  to  wish  that  our  mission  would  under- 
take its  revival.  They  represented  to  Mr.  Wilson, 
that  it  could  succeed  only  as  a  mission-school ;  and 
that  there  was  no  other  mission  but  ours  able  to 
undertake  it.  Mr.  Wilson  had  had  such  thoughts 
before,  and  now  began  to  lay  plans  for  the  undertak- 
ing. He  advocated  the  renewal,  in  some  shape,  of 
the  Protestant  Academy,  and  spoke  of  his  hopes  of 
a  Theological  Seminary,  to  grow  out  of  it  eventually. 
The  want  of  men,  and  the  want  of  a  precedent  for 
precisely  such  a  mission-school,  led  to  postponement, 
and  Mr.  Wilson  was  obliged  to  return  home  before 
anything  was  done;  but  he  left  the  scheme  as  a  kind 
of  legacy  to  his  successors.  After  Mr.  Scott  took 
his  place,  he  too  began  to  advocate  the  plan.  With 
the  help  of  the  Secretary  to  the  late  academy  he 
wrote  and  printed  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject,  which 
was  circulated  amongst  all  our  missionaries  in  India, 
and  secured  their  almost  unanimous  approval  of  the 
scheme.  He  was  thus  encouraged  to  send  the  plan 
to  our  Executive  Committee. 

When  the  matter  was  thus  laid  before  the  Exe- 
cutive Committee,  they  approved  the  scheme,  and 
requested  Mr.  Fullerton  to  leave  Mynporie  and  com- 
mence the  boys'  school.  They  also  expressed  an 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  205 

intention  to  send  out  another  man  to  aid  him.  This 
order  reached  us  at  the  close  of  1851,  shortly  after 
my  arrival  at  Agra.  As  the  Committee  intimated  a 
desire  that  a  commencement  should  be  made  during 
that  cold  season,  Mr.  Fullerton  removed  his  family 
in  February,  and  the  school  was  opened  on  the  2d 
of  March,  1852.  We  began  it  in  a  small  hired  bun- 
galow, near  the  Presbyterian  church,  with  six  scho- 
lars. 

Although  I  was  not  expected  to  take  any  part  in 
the  instruction  of  the  school,  yet  Mr.  Fullerton 
insisted  that  I  should  take  upon  myself  the  greater 
part  of  the  arrangements  to  be  made  for  it.  With 
his  help,  therefore,  and  with  the  advice  of  several 
friends,  I  published  a  small  pamphlet  as  an  advertise- 
ment. In  this  we  announced  the  principles,  plan, 
and  arrangements  for  the  school,  and  made  an  appeal 
to  the  public.  According  to  this  plan  the  tuition 
fees  were  made  about  half  the  amount  that  had  been 
usually  paid  in  private  schools.  This  at  once  brought 
the  school  within  reach  of  a  great  number  of  people, 
•who  could  not  previously  pay  for  schooling;  and  it 
encouraged  benevolent  persons  to  pay  the  fees  for 
occasional  very  poor  children.  This  was  the  opera- 
tion of  our  plan  that  we  had  anticipated;  and  it 
makes  our  school  in  a  measure  a  great  public  charity. 
When  I  was  leaving  India  the  matter  of  rendering 
aid  to  poor  scholars,  both  in  the  boys'  and  girls' 
schools,  was  being  systematized,  and  placed  in  charge 
of  a  committee  of  persons  desirous  of  doing  good. 
The  number  of  children  of  both  sexes  already  receiv- 
ing assistance  was  considerable. 

We  found  ourselves  peculiarly  situated  as  to  a  place 
in  which  to  keep  this  school.  We  had  been  author- 
ized to  hire  a  house  for  Mr.  Fullerton's  family,  and 
must,  of  course,  have  some  place  for  the  school;  but 
whether  we  should  hire  one  house  large  enough  for 
both  purposes,  or  a  small  one  for  each,  the  expense 
18 


206  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

would  be  considerable.  We  had  no  resources  for  buy- 
ing a  place  save  the  sum  appropriated  for  the  rent  of 
a  dwelling-house  a  year,  and  the  contribution  that  the 
Presbyterian  church  gave  for  my  services.  This  we 
could  appropriate  to  any  local  object  without  refer- 
ence to  the  Executive  Committee  in  New  York,  undej^ 
their  own  rule  about  local  contributions.  The  sum 
was  not  then  definitely  settled,  but  the  church  pro- 
posed to  give  me  one  thousand  rupees  at  once,  to  en- 
able me  to  buy  a  place.  As  the  sum  that  would  be 
saved  by  having  no  rent  to  pay,  and  this  one  thousand 
rupees,  would  be  a  considerable  part  of  the  sum  neces- 
sary for  purchasing  a  house,  we  wer6  greatly  inclined 
to  make  further  efforts.  Mr.  Fullerton  had  not  yet 
arrived,  and  left  all  the  matter  to  my  decision.  I 
was  afraid  to  undertake  to  raise  so  large  a  sum  as 
would  be  necessary  to  complete  the  undertaking ;  but 
Mrs.  Warren  urged  and  encouraged  a  series  of  efforts, 
that  resulted  in  the  most  complete  success.  This  was 
neither  the  first  nor  the  last  time  when  my  wife  was 
the  suggester,  encourager  and  promoter  of  my  most 
successful  efforts.  Other  friends  also,  in  this  case,  ad- 
vised me  to  go  forward.  I  called  on  Mr.  Thomason, 
the  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  asked  his  advice  about 
the  advertising  pamphlet,  and  his  aid  to  our  scheme. 
He  gave  several  suggestions,  and  a  thousand  rupees. 
After  this  I  secured  the  assistance  of  the  leading 
civilians  at  Agra,  several  of  whom  gave  me  two  hun- 
dred rupees  each.  Several  kind  friends  gave  me  their 
names  as  sureties  at  a  bank,  so  that  I  might  at  once 
have  command  of  the  necessary  funds  until  the  sub- 
scribers should  find  it  convenient  to  pay.  As  soon  as 
this  was  arranged  we  completed  the  purchase  of  a 
large  house,  out  of  repair,  but  in  a  very  good  situa- 
tion. It  was  built  for  a  lyceum,  ball-room,  and  Ma- 
sonic hall ;  and  therefore  had  large  rooms,  and  was 
quite  the  kind  of  place  required  for  the  school.  We 
put  it  into  a  thorough  state  of  repair,  and  so  divided 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  207 

it  that  Mr.  Fullerton's  family  and  the  school  had  in 
it  quite  sufficient  apartments.  We  did  not  then  ex- 
pect the  school  to  increase  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
make  the  house  too  small  for  the  family,  under  two  or 
three  years  at  least;  and  we  saw  that  when  it  should 
do  so,  it  would  still  leave  two  good  rooms  for  an  as- 
sistant, or  that  could  be  applied  to  any  other  useful 
purpose.  When  the  school  had  been  kept  for  two 
months  in  the  small  hired  bungalow,  it  was  removed 
to  the  new  place;  and  in  one  month  more  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fullerton  were  settled  in  it.  The  account  at 
the  bank  was  settled  and  closed  up  by  the  end  of  that 
year,  and  the  house  was  paid  for  without  any  appro- 
priation having  been  made  for  it  by  the  Executive 
Committee,  except  the  amount  that  would  have  been 
paid  by  that  time  for  the  rent  of  Mr.  Fullerton's 
house.  The  school  increased  so  much  beyond  our  ex- 
pectations, by  the  beginning  of  1853,  that  the  house 
became  too  small  for  a  family;  yet  it  afforded  suffi- 
cient rooms  for  Mr.  Williams,  who  joined  our  mission 
from  America  about  that  time,  and  was  unmarried. 
This  building  cost  about  five  thousand  and  five  hun- 
dred rupees. 

The  Rev.  R.  E.  Williams  was  an  old  friend  of  Mr. 
Fullerton.  He  went  with  the  view  of  aiding  us  in 
our  special  work  at  Agra.  In  the  same  year  he  was 
made  Principal  of  the  school,  Mr.  Fullerton  not  wish- 
ing to  retain  the  office,  but  continuing  ready  to  re- 
lieve and  assist  him  in  any  emergency.  We  had 
secured  the  services  of  an  East  Indian  young  gentle- 
man, well  qualified  for  the  office  of  head  master,  and 
of  other  assistants;  so  that,  though  Mr.  Williams' 
work  must  be  onerous  for  a  time,  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  he  may  finally  arrange  to  have  but  little  of  the 
actual  teaching  to  do,  and  may  be  able  to  give  his 
time  to  the  Hindu  controversy,  for  which  his  great 
learning  and  talents  abundantly  qualify  him. 

The  school  has  grown  till  it  has  nearly  one  hundred 


208  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

pupils;  some  of  them  from  the  Panjab,  on  the  one 
side,  and  some  from  Benares,  on  the  other — a  fact 
that  shows  the  importance  of  the  school  to  the  country. 
It  pays  all  its  current  expenses.  Amongst  the  pupils 
are  some  native  boys  of  good  family,  whose  parents, 
though  not  Christians,  wish  their  boys  to  be  brought 
up  with  those  who  speak  English,  and  have  English 
manners  and  morals.  For  this  purpose  they  pay  more 
than  the  rates  of  the  Government  College,  and  take 
the  risk  of  their  sons  being  converted.  Were  it  not 
that  English  and  East  Indian  parents  would  object  to 
a  very  great  intermixture  of  heathen  boys  with  theirs, 
we  might,  no  doubt,  have  many  more  native  boys. 
They  learn  the  Catechism,  read  the  Bible,  stand  at 
prayers,  and  receive  the  same  religious  instruction  as 
the  Christian  boys. 

It  may  be  asked  by  our  friends,  as  it  was  by  the 
immersionists  at  Agra,  why  we  should  set  up  a  Pro- 
testant school  there,  when  there  was  already  one 
belonging  to  the  Baptist  minister.  The  reasons — its 
comparative  inefficiency,  its  expensiveness,  and  the 
want  of  security  for  its  permanence — have  already 
been  mentioned.  In  regard  to  the  latter,  it  ought 
to  be  added,  that  any  place  like  the  principalship  of 
such  a  school  cannot  be  so  easily  filled  in  India  as  in 
America,  on  the  occurrence  of  a  vacancy.  Outside  of 
the  missions,  proper  men  can  rarely  be  found.  This 
will  not  always  be  so:  our  school,  and  similar  ones  in 
Calcutta,  will  raise  up  a  class  of  men  and  women  fit  for 
instructing  their  fellow-countrymen;  but  until  this 
work  be  accomplished,  help  must  be  given  to  them  by 
the  missions.  These  views,  however,  were  not  accept- 
able to  parties,  whose  private  and  sectarian  interests 
were  injured  by  our  action.  I  was  loudly  accused  of 
setting  up  the  school  out  of  mere  sectarian  spite.  It 
was  in  vain  for  me  to  plead,  that  neither  the  scheme, 
nor  the  order  for  its  execution,  was  evoked  by  me.  The 
most  absurd  and  uncharitable  motives  were  ascribed  to 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  209 

me;  and  I  was  treated  as  the  enemy  of  a  party,  and 
the  sole  cause  of  all  the  injury  they  feared.  They 
could  not  see  the  least  force  in  the  public  grounds 
assigned  for  our  action.  But  in  the  midst  of  their 
opposition  to  our  scheme,  its  policy  was  sadly  vindi- 
cated by  the  sudden  death  of  the  owner  of  their  school. 
Various  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  keep  up  his 
school,  after  his  death ;  but  they  all  failed,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  months  it  was  totally  abolished.  We 
of  course  regretted  the  death  of  the  Baptist  minister. 
He  had  been  a  useful  and  good  man,  with  whom  it  was 
painful  to  come  into  collision;  although  we  did  not 
think  him  and  his  friends  right  in  the  opposition  they 
offered. 

A  female  school  was  considered  scarcely  less  neces- 
sary than  that  for  boys.  Mr.  Scott's  scheme  contem- 
plated both;  but  our  instructions  from  home  were  only 
as  to  one.  But  Divine  Providence  immediately  began 
to  press  us  onward  in  further  measures  for  the  educa- 
tion of  that  class  of  people.  Two  intelligent  European 
girls  were  taken  in  hand  by  Mrs.  Fullerton,  and  partly 
supported  by  some  good  ladies,  in  order  to  save  them 
from  being  sent  to  the  Nunnery  school.  A  poor  East 
Indian  widow  begged  of  Mrs.  Fullerton  to  allow  her 
two  daughters  to  attend  also.  Then  some  neighbours, 
who  could  pay  for  the  privilege,  begged  to  be  allowed 
to  send  in  their  children.  This  Mrs.  Fullerton  was 
induced  to  concede,  so  that  she  might  hire  some  assist- 
ant. She  procured  the  attendance  of  a  young  woman, 
and  began  a  private  school,  not  promising  to  continue 
it  longer  than  it  should  suit  her  own  convenience.  She 
soon  had  fifteen  pupils. 

This  little  beginning  excited  attention.  There  was 
a  good  lady  at  Agra,  the  wife  of  a  civilian,  whose 
name  I  would  insert  here  did  I  not  believe  my  doing 
so  would  be  disagreeable  to  her,  who  looked  about  to 
see  what  other  girls  there  might  be  who  were  unable 
to  pay  for  an  education.  She  soon  found  several. 
18* 


210  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

Moved  by  what  she  had  discovered,  she  begged  dona- 
tions and  monthly  subscriptions,  got  two  other  ladies 
to  join  her  to  form  a  committee  for  the  working  of 
her  scheme,  and  took  all  the  poor  girls  upon  her  fund, 
including  those  whom  Mrs.  Fullerton  had  already  ad- 
mitted, in  order  to  leave  her  more  means  for  procuring 
efficient  assistance.  This  lady  was  so  successful  that  in 
a  short  time  she  had  a  fund  of  about  twelve  hundred 
rupees,  and  monthly  subscriptions  nearly  enough  to 
cover  the  monthly  outlay.  This  fund,  and  similar 
efforts  in  favour  of  poor  boys,  have  since  been  amal- 
gamated, as  already  intimated. 

During  the  summer  in  which  this  informal  school 
grew  up,  two  things  occurred  that  bore  upon  our 
schemes.  The  appointment  of  Mr.  Williams  was  an- 
nounced, accompanied  with  the  intimation  that  he 
would  occupy  the  apartments  in  the  boys'  school- 
house;  and  money  was  sent  from  New  York  for  the 
purchase  of  a  house  for  Mr.  Fullerton's  family.  At 
the  same  time  the  prospect  was  held  out  to  us  of  hav- 
ing more  force  attached  to  our  station ;  and  a  direction 
was  indicated,  in  which  it  was  hoped  that  the  mission 
might  extend  the  sphere  of  its  operations.  This 
movement  seemed  to  promise  that  our  forces  would 
be  so  kept  up,  that  the  addition  of  a  girls'  school  to 
our  engagements  would  not  embarrass  us.  But  at  the 
same  time  the  Executive  Committee  had  informed  us 
that  they  could  not  sanction  the  establishment  of  this 
school.  And  yet,  since  this  seemed  to  be  said  rather 
with  a  view  to  any  expense  that  might  be  entailed 
upon  the  committee  by  such  an  undertaking,  we  did 
not  consider  it  to  be  quite  prohibited,  if  it  could  be 
supported  without  incurring  additional  expenditure. 

At  the  same  time  the  prosperity  of  the  school,  the 
predictions  of  friends,  and  the  urgency  of  all  concur- 
ring circumstances,  were  such  that  we  felt  a  good 
degree  of  assurance  that  the  Executive  Committee 
would  soon  be  induced  to  order  the  full  establishment 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  211 

of  the  school.  And  if  this  should  be  done,  and  we, 
in  the  mean  time,  were  to  invest  the  money  sent  for 
an  additional  mission-house  in  a  building  only  large 
enough  for  a  family,  we  should  at  once  be  embarrassed 
by  the  want  of  a  place  in  which  to  keep  the  school. 
The  circumstances  again  made  us  feel  that  it  was 
proper  to  proceed  without  instructions.  I  was  again 
reluctant  to  assume  such  responsibility  as  was  involved 
in  setting  on  foot  a  permanent  school  without  author- 
ity from  home;  but  again  my  wife  formed  a  scheme, 
and  prepared  to  exert  herself  for  my  aid,  and  pressed 
me  forward  in  what  seemed  to  be  the  path  of  duty. 
We  learned  that  a  house,  situated  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  road  from  the  boys'  school,  and  well  suited  to 
our  purpose,  was  for  sale.  We  ascertained  the  lowest 
terms,  and  the  latest  day  of  payment.  Then  we  de- 
termined to  ask  the  advice  and  assistance  of  English 
friends,  and  to  be  guided  by  the  developments  of 
Providence.  I  went  again  to  see  Mr.  Thomason,  and 
stated  all  the  circumstances  to  him.  He  said  that  he 
thought  we  ought  to  go  on ; — that  I  was,  indeed,  a 
servant  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  bound  to 
obey  orders;  but  that  I  was  also  an  agent,  and  could, 
in  this  case,  do  them  better  service  by  acting  without 
orders; — and  that  our  scheme  had  his  most  decided 
approval,  and  he  would  give  us  five  hundred  rupees 
towards  buying  the  house.  We  then  secured  larger 
donations  than  before  from  the  English  residents  at 
that  and  some  other  stations;  and  a  particular  effort 
amongst  the  class  of  people,  for  whose  daughters  the 
school  was  mainly  intended,  was  quite  successful. 
The  Presbyterian  church  at  Agra  also  gave  me  five 
hundred  rupees  towards  this  scheme,  as  a  further  ac- 
knowledgment of  my  services  for  the  first  year.  For 
a  time  we  were  quite  anxious  as  to  the  result;  but  I 
was  led  to  persevere.  The  scheme,  involving  the  ex- 
penditure of  more  than  twice  the  money  furnished 
from  home  for  the  house,  was  completed.  I  acquired 


212  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

the  name  of  the  biggest  beggar  in  North  India;  but 
was  sure  that  it  was  not  applied  to  me  in  contempt, 
but  rather  indicated  an  increased  degree  of  confidence 
and  affection.  This  scheme  afterward  received  the 
countenance  of  our  Executive  Committee;  and  the 
school  flourishes  so  as  to  give  good  hope  of  its  con- 
tinuance. 

The  premises  of  the  two  schools  are  sufficiently 
near  together  to  make  them  quite  convenient  for  the 
mission,  and  yet  so  separated  that  the  boys  are  quite 
separate  from  the  girls.  Together  they  present  an 
imposing  appearance.  The  cost  of  them  was  a  con- 
siderable sum;  but  the  community  that  aided  us  to 
buy  them,  and  gave  us  about  two-thirds  of  their  cost, 
knew  what  we  were  doing,  and  would  hardly  have  ad- 
vised and  assisted  us  to  do  it,  unless  they  had  thought 
the  outlay  a  judicious  one. 

The  girls'  school  is  partly  for  day  scholars,  but 
boarders  are  kept  in  it.  At  first  we  did  not  in- 
tend that  the  boys'  school  should  be  so ;  but  it  was 
soon  found  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  have  the  head 
master  keep  a  boarding-house.  Accordingly  we  en- 
couraged him  to  buy  a  house,  the  yard  of  which  joined 
that  of  the  boys'  school.  This  will  make  his  situation 
somewhat  better  than  the  salary  which  we  could  give 
him ;  and  it  secures  a  place  for  boys  from  a  distance 
under  our  own  control,  while  we  escape  the  main 
trouble  and  anxiety  attending  it. 

It  is  but  right  to  mention  the  zeal  and  devotedness 
of  Mrs.  Fullerton  in  connection  with  the  girls'  school. 
The  labour  involved  in  the  care  and  instruction  of  the 
school  is  very  great,  and  the  responsibility  of  the  care 
of  female  boarders  would  not  be  easily  borne,  without 
any  pecuniary  recompense,  by  any  one  less  heartily 
engaged  in  the  Master's  service.  She  has  displayed 
the  greatest  patience  under  misconstructions  and  evil 
reports,  even  bearing  to  be  asked  if  she  considered 
her  work  to  be  missionary  work.  But  she  has  already 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  213 

an  instalment  of  her  reward :  spiritual  fruit  has  been 
produced;  and  the  marvellous  transformation  of  char- 
acter which  results  from  her  influence  over  the  girls 
must  be  highly  gratifying. 

Our  operations  at  Agra  have  produced  some  inci- 
dental effects.  A  number  of  gentlemen  joined  us, 
during  the  cold  season  of  1853-4,  in  giving  a  miscel- 
laneous course  of  lectures  to  the  English-speaking 
community.  This  effort  was  suggested  by  our  mission, 
but  it  was  taken  up  with  so  much  spirit  by  all  classes 
that  the  credit  of  it  may  fairly  be  considered  public 
property.  The  gentlemen  concerned  did  me  the 
honour  to  invite  me  to  give  the  opening  lecture.  The 
lectures  were  delivered  in  our  boys'  schoolhouse. 
Our  good  friend,  the  Hon.  J.  Thomason,  Esq.,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of  the  Northwest  Provinces,  having 
died  a  very  short  time  before,  I  took  this  occasion, 
with  the  consent  of  the  mission,  to  introduce  a  short 
eulogium  of  him,  mentioning  him  in  connection  with 
our  schools,  and  dedicating  the  house,  in  which  we 
•were  assembled,  to  his  memory,  by  naming  it  "  Thoma- 
son Hall"  Almost  immediately  after  this,  my  con- 
nection with  Agra  was  closed  by  my  departure  to  visit 
America. 

This  account  of  the  Agra  schools  has  been  given  to 
show  the  liberality  of  the  Indian  Christian  commun- 
ity, our  relations  with  that  community,  and  the  nature 
of  a  part  of  our  work  at  that  particular  station.  The 
effect  of  labours,  which  we  may  expect  to  see,  if  they 
are  followed  up  with  perseverance,  may  be  estimated 
by  the  account  of  the  East  Indians  and  the  uncoven- 
anted  service,  which  is  contained  in  this  work.  The 
influence  of  the  strictly  European  portion  of  the  com- 
munity will  always  be  ver*y  fluctuating;  a  station  may 
at  one  time  have  three  or  four  good  men,  or  some  ex- 
cellent ladies,  who  will  form  society  on  their  own 
model  to  a  great  extent;  and  in  a  short  time  they 
may  all  be  gone  to  other  stations,  and  persons  of  a 


214  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

quite  different  character  may  fill  their  places.  The 
East  Indian  people  are  not  strangers,  serving  a  cer- 
tain number  of  years  in  the  country,  but  are  settled 
in  it;  and  therefore  a  given  amount  of  help  and  influ- 
ence derived  from  them  annually  is  worth  more  to  us 
than  the  same  from  those  who  are  much  higher  in  the 
scale  of  society,  because  it  is  more  permanent.  It  is 
this  fact  that  makes  the  thorough  evangelization  of 
this  class  of  people  so  important. 

Those  who  have  had  patience  to  follow  me  to  this 
point,  will  thank  God  for  the  good  that  accrues  to  our 
missions  from  the  English  and  other  Christians  in 
India ;  and  they  who  know  how  sure  all  good  is  to  be 
accompanied  by  evil  in  this  world,  will  not  be  surprised 
to  hear  that  some  hinderances  to  our  work  arise  from 
the  same  sources.  According  to  my  design,  fully  to 
display  our  circumstances  in  India,  I  will  briefly  men- 
tion the  chief  hinderances  that  are  caused  by  those 
who  are  known  to  the  heathen  as  Christians. 

There  are  usually  within  the  field  of  our  missions 
about  six  thousand  European  troops,  besides  the  regi- 
ments of  natives  officered  by  Europeans.  There  are 
a  few  of  these  soldiers  who  are  good  men;  but  the 
immense  majority  of  the  privates  are  ignorant  and 
depraved,  perhaps  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other 
class  of  Englishmen  in  the  world.  They  are  recruited 
from  the  worst  classes,  and  in  India  they  are  almost 
entirely  freed  from  the  moral  restraints  that  surround 
them,  and  must  influence  them  more  or  less,  at  home. 
Drunkenness  and  licentiousness  strongly  mark  their 
conduct,  whenever  they  can  escape  from  the  immediate 
restraints  of  military  discipline.  It  is  impossible  to 
keep  the  natives  from  knowing  their  characteristics. 
Again  and  again  are  their  character  and  conduct  flung 
at  the  missionary;  and  we  are  advised  to  go  to  them, 
and  not  have  the  impertinence  to  recommend  our  reli- 
gion to  others,  until  it  has  reformed  our  own  people. 
We  are  obliged,  in  this  and  some  similar  cases,  to 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  215 

explain  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  Christians — those 
who  are  simply  called  so  from  the  nation  or  tribe  they 
were  born  in,  and  those  who  are  so  by  real  faith.  The 
only  effectual  way  that  I  could  ever  find  to  answer  the 
objection,  was  to  say  that  our  religion  makes  those 
who  are  under  its  power  really  better  men;  while  the 
Mohammedan  and  Hindu  faiths  only  make  men  self- 
righteous,  and  conceitedly  devout,  and  malignantly 
bigoted.  We  can  appeal  to  so  many  examples  of  all 
kinds,  that  our  answer  is  not  without  its  power,  though 
it  certainly  does  not  fully  neutralize  the  influence  of 
wicked  Europeans.  Though  there  are  a  few  good  men 
in  almost  every  regiment,  and  they  are  known  to  the 
officers,  yet  they  are  scarcely  known  to  the  natives, 
and  have  no  influence  on  them.  They  hardly  ever 
learn  the  language  of  the  country,  and  their  example 
is  quite  unknown  and  unnoticed. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  East  Indians  formerly 
had  the  vices  of  both  their  parent  races,  and  the  vir- 
tues of  neither.  The  drunkenness  of  the  European, 
the  duplicity  of  the  Hindustani,  and  the  weakness  of 
a  newly  mixed  race,  formed  a  very  undesirable  cha- 
racter. Professing  Christianity,  and  practising  many 
native  customs,  they  did  the  native  religions  no  harm, 
while  they  compromised  ours  before  the  native  com- 
munity. These  people  are  now  greatly  improved,  and 
there  are  most  estimable  persons  amongst  them.  They 
marry  mostly  amongst  themselves,  and  concubinage 
with  native  women  is  almost  at  an  end.  Their  ranks 
have  recently  also  been  recruited  from  a  better  stock 
than  formerly.  But  many  representatives  of  their 
former  character  are  still  found.  Many  of  the  musi- 
cians of  native  infantry  regiments,  and  some  of  the 
lowest  of  the  copyists  about  the  public  offices,  are  still 
specimens  of  the  class  referred  to;  and  here  and  there, 
scattered  through  the  country,  some  are  to  be  found 
sharking  for  a  living.  Their  reputation  is  not  favour- 
able to  Christianity.  They  are  often  referred  to  by 


216  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

our  opponents ;  but  we  are  able  to  refer  to  many  who 
are  an  honour  to  our  religion.  This  class  is  increasing, 
and  further  labour  on  their  behalf  will  still  more  in- 
crease their  good  influence. 

Too  many  military  officers  do  us  harm  by  their  ex- 
ample. It  is  true,  that  the  officers  are  generally  a 
most  respectable  body  of  men;  but  there  are  excep- 
tions, and  all  exceptions  are  keenly  noted  by  the 
natives.  The  notorious  licentiousness  of  some,  and 
the  unscrupulous  indebtedness  of  others,  are  unfa- 
vourable to  our  labours,  for  the  same  reason  that  the 
vices  of  European  soldiers  are  so ;  and  some  of  them 
actively  oppose  us.  I  have  known  the  case  of  an 
officer,  detached  for  civil  employment,  who  had  an 
intelligent  Musalm&n  in  his  office,  on  whom  a  strong 
impression  had  been  made  by  our  labours  at  Allaha- 
bad. This  man  asked  the  officer's  advice  about  making 
a  profession  of  Christianity,  expecting  encouragement 
to  do  so.  He  judged  that  a  Christian  would  naturally 
like  to  see  one  converted  to  his  religion ;  but  he  was 
surprised  to  meet  with  abuse.  The  officer  called  him  a 
fool;  asked  him  why  he  should  change  his  religion,  when 
one  was  as  good  as  another;  and  told  him  that  he  had 
no  right  to  do  it,  because  he  was  born  a  Mohammedan, 
which  was,  therefore,  what  God  had  intended  him  to 
be.  When  the  man  argued  that  but  one  of  the  two 
faiths  could  be  true,  the  officer  called  him  a  hog,  and 
told  him  to  mind  his  work.  But  such  gross  examples 
as  this  are  rare.  More  harm  is  done  by  the  prevailing 
levity  and  wildness  of  young  officers,  and  by  the 
general  negative  example  of  irreligion  set  by  the  great 
body  of  the  army.  But  here  we  most  thankfully  note 
exceptions:  there  are  those  who  honour  Christianity, 
and  labour  for  its  advancement.  And  the  domestic 
relations  of  officers  are  now  much  more  creditable  to 
Christianity  than  they  formerly  were. 

Though  it  is  perfectly  a  digression,  I  will  not 
scruple  to  say  something  more  of  the  Mohammedan 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  217 

mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  The  close  of 
his  history  is  covered  with  impenetrable  obscurity. 
He  was  near  being  baptized  by  us,  when  he  took  a 
temporary  leave  of  absence  from  the  office  in  which 
he  served,  and  went  to  see  his  family;  and  he 
never  returned.  He  could  not  have  stayed  away  to 
escape  baptism ;  for  he  was  not  so  committed  to  us 
that  he  could  not  have  drawn  back  if  he  pleased. 
He  would  not  run  away  from  his  service,  for  he 
could  get  nothing  equal  to  it  in  worldly  advantage 
anywhere  else.  We  heard  a  report  from  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  his  family,  that  after  he  had  been  with 
his  friends  a  few  days,  his  brothers  gathered  his 
cousins  together,  and  two  or  three  more  staunch 
Mohammedans,  and  disputed  with  him  till  late  at 
night.  When  the  discussion  had  heated  their  temper, 
his  elder  brother  solemnly  called  on  him  to  abjure 
Christ,  and  promise  not  to  be  baptized.  He  answered, 
"  I  will  die  first."  "Die,  then!"  shouted  his  furious 
brother,  and  cut  him  down  with  a  sword.  This  story 
could  not  be  authenticated ;  but  his  disappearance  is 
otherwise  unaccounted  for.  When  the  present  dis- 
pensation is  closed  up,  perhaps  we  shall  see  him  and 
many  more  such  martyrs  amongst  "  the  host  of 
God's  elect."  And  we  shall  be  rewarded  for  our 
labour  if  our  mission  shall  be  the  means  of  sending 
but  one  such  there. 

Merchants,  speculators,  and  travellers  in  India 
have  exerted  an  evil  influence.  Planters  also  are 
often  a  stumbling-block.  There  have  been  examples 
of  knavery,  oppression,  and  vice,  rivalling  the  utmost 
depths  of  native  depravity.  Native  bankers  cannot 
pretend  to  equal  some  of  the  transactions  of  English 
banks  in  that  country.  But  here,  again,  there  are 
redeeming  points;  there  are  men  of  these  classes  who 
have  been  an  honour  and  a  blessing  to  the  country. 

Civilians  have  generally  set  a  better  example  than 
other  classes  of  the  European  community.  More  of 
19 


218  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

them  are  married  men,  and  live  regularly  and  virtu- 
ously. They  are  not  all  such  as  they  ought  to  be ; 
and  occasionally  one  of  them  does  more  harm  to 
Christianity  than  several  good  men  can  repair. 

Members  of  all  classes  of  the  nominally  Christian 
community  do  us  a  mischief  by  compliances  with  the 
native  religions.  On  one  occasion  an  officer  of  high 
rank  visited  a  Hindu  shrine  near  us,  and  when 
solicited  by  the  priests,  gave  them  sixteen  rupees. 
He  probably  only  desired  a  reputation  for  liberality ; 
but,  instead  of  that,  he  got  the  reputation  amongst 
the  natives  of  having  a  sneaking  regard  for,  and 
some  fear  of,  the  idol  worshipped  there.  He  knew 
that  his  donation  would  be  considered  an  offering  to 
the  idol ;  but  he  laughed  at  objections,  saying,  "  Let 
the  poor  devils  think  what  they  will." 

Sometimes  we  have  trials  that  arise  from  good 
men.  Difficulties  with  assistants  have  been  increased 
by  their  injudicious  interference.  A  wicked  (or 
crazy)  apostate  baptized  Brdhman  has  been  paid  for 
preaching  for  years,  by  a  good  old  General,  who 
would  not  believe  that  his  protege  preached  against 
Christianity.  There  have  been  cases  of  interference 
in  mission  affairs  by  friends,  which  produced  difficulty 
and  embarrassment.  I  have  known  good  men,  who 
evidently  expected  us  to  consider  their  immense 
salaries  and  high  official  positions  to  be  good  argu- 
ments in  any  discussion.  But  it  would  be  ungracious 
to  dwell  on  the  faults  of  the  friends  of  our  cause, 
even  if  we  do  suffer  from  them  sometimes. 

The  writing  of  this  chapter  has  given  me  pleasure. 
There  are  sad  things  in  it,  as  there  are  in  all  parts 
of  this  world's  history.  But  in  this  case  the  good 
predominates.  The  influence  of  the  English  in  India 
is  in  favour  of,  rather  than  against  Christianity. 
And  amongst  the  East  Indians,  and  others  who  will 
make  India  their  home,  there  will  arise  labourers  to 
convert  the  natives,  and  supporters  and  comforters  of 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  219 

those  labourers,  concerning  whom  it  shall  be  clearly 
written,  "  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place,  shall 
be  glad  for  them." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SUCCESS. 

IT  is  but  natural  that  all,  who  care  anything  about 
missions,  should  ask,  What  is  the  effect  of  all  these 
operations,  that  are  detailed  and  alluded  to  in  this 
volume  ? — and  it  is  but  reasonable  that  I  should  give 
them  as  clear  an  idea  of  it  as  I  have  tried  to  give  of 
our  situation  and  labours.  Something  will  already 
have  been  gathered  from  the  preceding  chapters;  for 
the  personal  anecdotes  that  I  have  related,  contain 
accounts  of  some  of  our  converts,  and  allude  to 
more.  I  most  heartily  wish  that  I  could  tell  a  more 
stirring  story  of  our  successes  than  the  truth  will 
allow  me  to  do.  It  would  gladden  the  hearts  of  the 
missionaries  to  be  able  to  report  crowds  of  inquirers 
coming,  and  great  numbers  baptized ;  it  would  save 
them  from  many  an  hour  of  heaviness,  if  they  could 
see  more  souls  given  to  them  for  their  hire ;  and  it 
would  doubtless  stir  up  the  activity  of  the  Church  at 
home  to  hear  such  accounts.  But  though  we  cannot 
tell  of  many  having  "believed  our  report,"  yet  there 
is  no  reason  for  discouragement.  There  are  two  con- 
siderations that  ought  to  have  great  weight  in  estimat- 
ing the  value  of  our  success. 

There  has  not  yet  elapsed  sufficient  time  to  secure 
any  great  amount  of  success.  Every  one,  who  has 
read  accounts  of  missions,  knows  that  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  years  pass  iu  preliminary  labour  before 


220  %  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

there  is  much  fruit  gathered.  Those  places  that 
have  been  most  distinguished  by  the  blessings  poured 
out  upon  them,  have  been  cultivated  with  this  amount 
of  assiduous  patience.  If  any  one  studies  the  mis- 
sions in  Southern  India,  from  the  time  of  Schwartz 
onward,  he  will  find  that  at  first  the  amount  of  suc- 
cess was  only  sufficient  to  keep  the  labourers  in  heart 
and  hope;  and  the  field,  where  now  the  Episcopal 
and  the  Independent  English,  and  the  American 
Board  missionaries  are  receiving  village  after  village 
under  their  care  for  instruction  in  Christianity,  for- 
merly supplied  only  families  and  individuals  singly, 
•with  crosses,  difficulties,  and  frequent  defections. 
The  history  of  the  missions  in  the  Sandwich  and 
Society  Islands  is  so  well  known,  that  they  only  need 
to  be  alluded  to  as  cases  in  point.  The  missions  in 
the  Turkish  Empire,  though  now  their  successes  are 
sufficient  to  be  thought  one  cause  of  the  Russian 
movement  in  that  direction,  went  through  a  long 
night  of  faith  before  they  were  favoured  with  such 
results.  The  Church  missions  in  Bengal  had  been 
longer  planted  than  any  of  ours,  before  the  Krishna- 
gar  movement  gave  indications  of  approaching  day; 
and  then  they  received,  as  we  may  say,  at  once,  four 
thousand  converts.  And  beside  the  actual  converts, 
the  influence  of  the  truth  has  produced  a  sect  amongst 
the  natives,  called  Karta-Bhojds,  (worshippers  of  the 
Creator,)  said  to  number  one  hundred  thousand  souls. 
These  men  have  cast  off  idolatry,  and  are  much  more 
accessible  than  others.  They,  in  fact,  occupy  the 
position  of  a  compromise  between  the  truth  and 
idolatry,  to  which  they  are  brought  by  the  combined 
action  of  the  truth  on  the  one  side,  and  the  pride  of 
the  natural  heart  on  the  other;  they  cannot  remain 
in  gross  heathenism ;  they  will  not,  if  they  can  avoid 
it,  submit  to  the  humbling  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
We  hope  that  their  present  stand  is  but  temporary. 
And  how  long  is  it  since  the  first  Protestant  mission- 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  221 

aries  went  to  China?  Well  might  the  faint-hearted 
have  asked,  When  shall  we  see  a  result  ?  But  the 
Chinese  rebellion  has  shown  that  the  truth  has  pro- 
duced an  effect — not  altogether  that  which  we  would 
have  desired — but  one  that  at  least  shows  that  idola- 
try has  been  shaken  to  its  foundations,  and  leaves,  or 
will  leave,  the  field  clear  for  building  up  the  truth  on 
the  debris  of  error. 

The  second  consideration  is,  that  we  have  a 
greater  amount  of  difficulties  to  contend  with  in  India 
than  perhaps  anywhere  else.  Take  into  view  first 
those  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and  those 
that  are  common  to  all  our  race  of  aliens  from  God. 
Then  let  us  try  to  realize  the  obstruction  thrown  in 
our  way  by  caste.  All  have  heard  of  the  four  great 
castes  of  Hindus;  and  some  may  have  thought  that 
there  must  be  many  people  who  are  not  comprehended 
in  any  of  these,  and  therefore  will  be  without  the 
trammels  of  this  institution.  And  this  was,  no  doubt, 
at  first  intended  to  be  the  operation  of  the  system;  or 
perhaps  it  was  intended  by  its  founders,  that  all  who 
fell  from  the  higher  castes  should  find  a  place  in  the 
lowest.  But  men  can  never  fully  calculate  beforehand 
what  will  be  the  effect  of  their  policy;  and  probably 
the  priestly  caste  little  dreamed,  when  they  settled 
their  system  of  ranks,  that  outcasts  and  foreigners 
would  so  far  follow  their  example  as  to  band  them- 
selves in  castes  in  imitation  of  them.  But  this  has 
happened — quarrels  have  split  castes,  the  one  party 
excommunicating  the  other;  but  neither  party  has 
forsaken  the  institution  of  caste — they  have  simply 
formed  two  instead  of  one.  And  these  have  again 
divided  and  subdivided,  till  no  man  knows  their  num- 
ber. Mistakes  or  omissions  in  their  ritual  have  put 
Bnihmans  out  of  communion  with  the  great  body;  but 
they  have  been  able  to  form  parties,  and  to  retain 
the  exercise  of  the  priestly  office  in  some  places, 
though  not  allowed  to  be  Brahmans  in  others;  and 
19* 


222  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

thus  an  endless  variety  of  Br&hmans  is  to  be  found. 
Illegitimacy  has  been  the  fruitful  parent  of  new 
castes.  Even  the  dead  have  formed  a  caste : — there 
is  a  town  in  Bengal,  where  those  live  who  have 
recovered  after  being  carried  to  the  river  to  die. 
They  are  judicially  dead  according  to  Hindu  law; 
and  here  they  have  settled,  intermarried,  have  chil- 
dren, and  observe  caste  amongst  themselves,  as  much 
as  if  they  had  never  lost  caste,  or  had  originated  from 
one  caste.  There  are  a  multitude  of  those  whose 
parents  lost  caste  ages  ago,  and  they  have  banded 
together  and  formed  new  ones.  The  Mohammedans 
have  fallen  into  the  same  custom,  and  are  as  careful 
to  preserve  a  certain  distance  from  others,  totally 
uncommanded  by  the  Koran,  as  any  Hindus.  Caste 
is  genteel  in  Upper  India.  It  is  an  appendage  to 
character  which  no  man  is  willing  to  own  that  he 
lacks.  The  effect  of  all  this  is,  that  no  one  is  so  low 
as  to  have  nothing  to  lose  by  joining  us.  The  ques- 
tion continually  occurs,  What  shall  we  do  out  of 
caste  ?  And  indeed  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lose  the 
privilege  of  ever  eating  again  with  parents,  brothers 
and  sisters,  and  other  relatives,  or  of  entering  the 
house,  or  of  aiding  in  sickness,  or  assisting  to  bury — 
to  be  cut  off  from  all  sympathy,  and  to  become  an 
object  of  detestation  and  loathing  in  exact  proportion 
to  the  affection  formerly  enjoyed ;  and  that  too  before 
the  party  the  person  joins  is  large  enough  to  give 
security  for  some  equivalent  to  these  ruptured  ties. 
Thus  until  the  native  Christians  become  so  numerous 
as  to  form  a  recognized  community  by  themselves, 
here  will  be  a  very  great  hinderance  to  the  constitu- 
tionally timid,  and  to  the  weak  in  faith.  Of  all  other 
mission  fields  ours  most  resembles  the  Turkish  empire 
in  this  respect.  The  old  churches  there  are  like  the 
castes  in  India  in  many  things,  especially  in  the  un- 
social way  in  which  dissidents  are  treated. 

And  still  another  great  obstruction  is  found  in  the 


IN    NORTH    INDIA;  223 

religious  and  philosophical  systems  of  the  country, 
and  in  its  pseudo-civilization.  It  is  not  in  the  same 
situation  as  the  barbarous  islands  were,  which  had 
lost  all  confidence  in  their  idols,  and  presented,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  a  tabula  rasa,  on  which  to  write  a 
new  faith.  In  India  there  is  a  high  and  romantic 
mythology,  to  give  character  to  its  idolatry,  present- 
ing the  grossest  idolatry  to  the  lowest,  a  gross  poly- 
theism to  the  half-educated,  and  a  refined  and  philo- 
sophical pantheism  to  the  higher  classes.  The  doctrines 
of  both  the  Mohammedans  and  the  Hindus  are  well 
suited  to  the  corrupt  propensities  of  human  nature — 
both  to  those  of  the  low  and  gross,  and  to  those  of  the 
lovers  of  self-righteousness  and  spiritual  pride.  The 
priesthood,  instead  of  being  mere  ignorant  mummers, 
are  intelligent  men,  with  so  much  knowledge  as  easily 
to  impose  on  the  masses  and  exercise  a  great  influence. 
India  has  a  history,  both  political  and  literary;  and 
our  attempt  is  to  overthrow  both  opinions  and  a  social 
system,  which  are  the  growth  of  ages,  and  are  con- 
nected with  a  certain  and  well  defined  form  of  civili- 
zation. The  attempt  is  sublime  in  its  magnitude.  No 
political  revolution  that  was  ever  attempted  half 
equals  it.  Were  not  our  dependence  on  something 
infinitely  higher  than  the  power  of  man,  this  attempt 
would  not  have  hope  enough  to  make  it  ridiculous — it 
would  be  simply  beneath  contempt.  We  are  certainly 
superior  to  the  people  of  India  in  learning  and  civili- 
zation; but  not  so  superior  as  to  have  the  advantage 
given  by  the  immeasurable  distance  between  Euro- 
peans and  savages.  We  have  something  more  to  do 
than  to  clear  the  ground  and  build:  we  have  first  to 
pull  down. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  baptism  of  the  first 
native  convert  at  Allahabad  as  having  occurred  the 
first  summer  after  my  arrival.  Within  the  next  year 
one  of  the  catechists  whom  I  have  mentioned  was  re- 
ceived. From  that  time  to  the  present,  now  and  then 


224  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

one  has  been  received  from  the  Hindis  and  the  Mo- 
hammedans, and  several  from  the  orphan  asylums. 
The  ratio  of  conversions  is  increasing.  Scarcely  a 
month  passes  now,  in  which  the  accession  of  some  one 
or  more  to  our  churches  is  not  reported.  Some 
native  Christians  have  been  received  from  other  places; 
some  have  been  dismissed  to  other  churches;  and 
several  have  died.  There  are  now  about  forty  native 
communicants,  including  some  assistants  who  have 
been  sent  to  out-stations;  and  about  double  this  num- 
ber have  been  members  of  the  church  in  all.  The 
whole  native  community  gathered  there  is  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  including  the  children  in  the  or- 
phan asylums.  The  history  of  all  other  missionary 
stations  in  North  India,  so  far  as  my  acquaintance 
extends,  is  similar  to  this  in  regard  to  accessions. 
Some  have  had  more,  some  less.  At  some  of  them 
greater  facilities  exist  for  giving  employment  to  con- 
verts than  at  others.  While  at  Agra  I  sent  the  in- 
quirers from  that  place  to  Futtehgurh  for  this  reason. 
The  members  of  our  churches  are  not,  of  course,  all 
equally  satisfactory  as  to  character.  Some  of  them 
are  without  much  zeal  and  activity  as  Christians;  and 
some  are  weak  and  stumbling  Christians,  too  selfish, 
too  worldly,  too  unsteady.  So  were  some  of  the  con- 
verts of  the  Apostles ;  and  when  this  cannot  be  said  of 
a  great  many  Christians  in  America,  then  I  will  enter 
upon  such  an  apology  as  may  be  made  for  these  in 
Hindustan.  And  some  of  our  people  really  are  very 
good  people,  and  profit  by  the  means  of  grace.  They 
are  not  all  that  we  should  desire,  but  they  are  a  light 
amongst  the  heathen.  To  show  what  some  of  them 
are,  I  will  refer  the  reader  to  an  article  of  mine,  writ- 
ten for  one  of  the  missionary  periodicals,  and  repub- 
lished  by  the  Board  of  Publication,  entitled  "Poor 
Blind  Sally."  It  gives  an  account  of  a  blind  girl, 
who,  through  love  of  the  Scriptures,  made  astonishing 
progress  in  learning  English  from  a  single  gospel,  the 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  225 

only  book  we  could  then  procure  for  her  in  the  raised 
characters.  Her  spiritual  attainments  are  set  forth 
in  that  little  work  in  such  a  light,  that  any  reader  of 
it  will  see  that  our  labour  is  not  fruitless.  Another 
case  is  that  of  the  young  man,  who  went  from  our 
church  to  Agra  with  Mr.  Wilson.  Mr.  Wilson  pub- 
lished a  notice  of  him  when  he  died,  which  testifies  to 
his  sweet  Christian  character.  Many  a  mourner  for  a 
dear  brother  has  sorrowed  less  than  did  Mr.  Wilson 
over  the  loss  of  this  humble  brother,  whose  body  was 
the  first  planted  in  the  yard  of  the  new  Presbyterian 
church  at  Agra.  As  another  specimen  of  the  work 
of  grace  amongst  our  people,  I  copy  the  following 
from  a  notice  of  Jatni,  a  deceased  member  of  our 
church.  It  was  written  for  childen,  and  for  that 
reason  may  have  too  little  dignity  of  style  for  some 
readers;  but  I  prefer  not  to  alter  it  much. 

"You  have,  no  doubt,  often  heard  of  happy  deaths 
amongst  Christians  at  home.  Some  of  you  have  lost 
a  father,  or  mother,  or  other  dear  friends,  who  have 
called  you  to  their  bedside,  and  have  given  you  good 
advice,  and  taken  leave  of  you.  You  may  remember 
how  your  dear  departed  mother,  in  the  paleness  and 
weakness  of  approaching  death,  still  looked  happy ; 
and  how  her  friends  crowded  around  her  bed  with 
tears  of  sorrow  and  smiles  of  joy  on  their  counte- 
nances— sorrow,  that  one  so  dear  was  about  to  be  taken 
away;  and  joy,  because  she  by  faith  could  'see  heaven 
opened,  and  the  Son  of  Man  standing  on  the  right 
hand  of  God.'  You  would  not,  perhaps,  understand 
all  that  you  saw;  and  your  little  hearts  would  be 
bursting  with  grief  and  fear.  But  still  you  can  un- 
derstand enough  to  know,  that  true  religion  will  give 
great  comfort  in  the  hour  of  death.  This  is  so  fre- 
quently seen  in  your  favoured  country,  that  if  tho 
death,  which  has  occurred  here,  had  taken  place  there, 
I  should  not  have  thought  of  writing  about  it  for  you. 
But,  as  I  said  before,  it  is  in  some  points  a  new  thing 


226  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

here.  And  I  will  tell  you  about  it,  so  that  you  may 
see  that  true  piety  is  the  same  thing  everywhere.  I 
wish  also  that  you  should  see,  that  God  blesses  your 
missionaries,  at  least  in  some  degree.  We  do  not  yet 
see  the  desert  blossom  as  the  rose-garden,  from  the 
refreshing  showers  of  the  Spirit  of  grace ;  but  we  are 
permitted  to  see,  now  and  then,  a  rose  springing  up, 
and  opening  out  its  beauties,  to  show  us  that  the  seed 
is  taking  root  in  the  ground ;  and  that  it  is  the  right 
seed,  of  our  Father's  planting,  and  not  merely  the 
seed  of  tares,  sown  by  an  enemy. 

"Many  years  ago,  a  Brahman,  named  Ranjit,  made 
a  profession  of  Christianity  at  Chunar,  and  put  him- 
self under  the  care  of  the  late  Rev.  W.  Bowley.  There 
he  was  baptized,  and  after  a  while  made  a  catechist, 
or  native  assistant.  He  was  engaged  some  years  as 
superintendent  of  a  village  belonging  to  the  Church 
mission  at  Chunar.  We  hope  he  was  a  true  Christian ; 
but  it  is  painful  to  have  to  say,  that  he  was  not  at  all 
times  so  consistent  as  it  is  necessary  and  desirable  a 
Christian  man  should  be.  We  must  remember  that  he 
had  been  brought  up  a  heathen  till  he  became  a  man; 
and  more,  that  he  was  a  Brahman — a  caste  that  has 
some  temptations  and  some  vices  that  are  peculiar  to 
them,  but  which  are  the  necessary  result  of  their  being 
worshipped  as  gods  by  the  common  people.  He  died 
several  years  ago. 

"  This  man  had  two  daughters,  of  the  younger  of 
whom  I  am  about  to  tell  you.  She  was  married,  when 
about  fifteen  years  old,  to  one  of  the  young  men  who 
had  been  brought  up  at  that  mission;  and  they  were 
shortly  after  sent  to  us  by  Mr.  Bowley,  for  employ- 
ment. Her  husband  has  since  become  the  foreman  of 
the  printing-office  under  my  care  here.  Both  these 
persons  were  educated  in  connection  with  Mr.  Bowley's 
orphan  schools.  They  were  not  orphans,  but  taught 
with  the  orphans. 

"You  must  understand,  that  we  do  not  allow  any 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  227 

distinctions  of  caste  amongst  the  Christians;  they  all 
visit  each  other,  and  eat  together  on  such  occasions, 
without  making  any  difficulty  about  it.  The  Hindus 
call  them  Bhrasht,  for  this ;  that  is,  depraved,  spoiled. 
But  we  teach  them  that  only  sin  makes  any  one  bhrasht; 
we  tell  them  that  nothing  but  good  and  bad  conduct, 
and  more  or  less  education,  ought  to  make  any  dis- 
tinctions amongst  men.  Our  people  generally  get  on 
very  well  together:  but  you  will  not  be  surprised  to 
hear  that  Satan  sometimes  tempts  one  and  another  of 
them  to  fancy  themselves  more  genteel  by  birth  than 
others.  I  remember  very  well,  when  I  was  a  boy  at 
school,  as  many  of  you  are  now,  how  some  of  us  used 
to  feel,  because  we  lived  in  better  houses,  or  had  better 
clothes,  or  our  fathers  were  rather  more  respectable 
than  those  of  some  others;  and  sometimes,  when  we 
were  naughty  enough  to  quarrel,  we  reproached  others. 
I  am  ashamed  of  it  now,  whenever  I  think  of  it.  I 
dare  say  some  of  you  have  done  the  same  thing;  and 
I  hope  you  will  soon  be  ashamed  of  it  too.  In  this 
way  I  have  known  one  to  say  here,  'I  am  the  son  of  a 
Brahman,  and  your  father  was  only  a  weaver;  do  you 
think  to  make  yourself  equal  with  me?'  And  another 
would  say,  'I  am  a  Rajput  by  birth,  and  your  father 
was  a  cobbler;  so  what  impertinence  it  is  in  you  to 
think  of  disputing  with  me.'  But  this  has  very  seldom 
happened,  and  for  some  years  past  scarcely  at  all. 
Our  people  are  from  almost  every  caste,  and  they  get 
on  together  as  peaceably  as  any  community  I  ever 
knew. 

"The  young  woman  of  whom  I  am  writing,  was  tho 
daughter  of  a  man  of  the  very  highest  caste.  Had 
her  father  continued  in  Hinduism,  his  daughter,  while 
playing  with  the  little  girls  of  the  village,  might  have 
taken  their  playthings  away,  or  called  them  bad  names, 
or  pushed  them,  and  they  would  not  have  dared  to 
say  anything.  No  children  in  your  country  can  treat 
others  so  tyrannically  as  the  high  caste  children  hero 


228  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

can  the  low  caste.  She  might  have  heen  worshipped; 
there  are  various  times  when  the  virgin  daughters  of 
Brdhmans  are  worshipped  especially.  And  it  is  alto- 
gether probable  that  sometimes  she  had  thoughts  of 
pride  come  into  her  mind  about  the  fact  that  her 
father  was  a  Br&hman. 

"This  young  woman  was  baptized  in  her  childhood 
by  the  name  of  Betsey ;  but  was  also  frequently,  indeed 
generally,  called  by  her  native  name,  Jatni.  She  was 
received  to  the  communion  in  our  church,  five  or  six 
years  ago.  At  that  time  she  passed  an  examination ; 
but  we  did  not  see  anything  very  remarkable  in  her. 
She  was  so  modest,  so  shame-faced,  that  she  never 
could,  while  in  health,  talk  with  us  very  freely.  I 
have  often  noticed,  that  she  seemed  to  pay  perfect 
attention  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel ;  and  when  I 
have  been  in  her  house  to  speak  on  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion, she  always  seemed  to  listen  with  great  interest, 
and  to  be  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  learn.  If  I  asked 
her  any  questions,  she  answered  me  in  a  satisfactory 
manner,  so  far  as  her  extreme  modesty,  or  timidity, 
would  permit  her  to  speak.  But  though  so  shy,  it  was 
not  long  before  we  discovered  that  her  character  had 
many  excellencies.  Though  we  could  not  often  hear 
of  anything  in  particular  that  she  did,  yet  she  gained 
the  respect  and  love  of  all  the  native  Christian  com- 
munity. All  the  men  were  ready  to  point  to  her  as  an 
example  for  their  wives;  and  all  the  women,  without 
envy  or  strife,  acknowledged  her  as  the  most  excellent 
person  amongst  them.  The  customs  of  this  country 
almost  entirely  forbid  a  respectable  woman  speaking 
to  a  man  out  of  her  own  family;  and  Jatni  was  too 
unfeignedly  modest  to  find  fault  with  the  custom,  or 
transgress  against  it.  So  her  influence  was  not  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  men  as  that  of  a  good  woman  so  often 
is  in  America.  But  this  was  more  the  fault  of  circum- 
stances than  of  herself.  On  one  occasion,  one  of  our 
young  men  had  been  guilty  of  some  bad  conduct,  and 


IN   NORTH    INDIA.  229 

I  had  thought  it  necessary  to  punish  him.  At  first  he 
resented  it,  and  said  he  would  not  remain  here;  but 
he  went  on  some  errand  to  Jatni's  house,  and  she 
asked  him  about  his  circumstances.  He  told  her  his 
griefs;  and  she  told  him  how  sin  had  brought  them  all 
upon  him.  She  besought  him  not  to  go  away.  Her 
kindness  brought  him  to  tears  and  confession.  He 
went  to  his  work  again,  and  has  been  a  better  man 
ever  since.  But  her  life  was  short;  and  the  history 
of  a  quiet,  modest,  retiring  female  is  soon  written;  it 
would  not  be  so  easy  a  task  to  write  out  an  account  of 
all  the  lovely  traits  of  her  character. 

"Now  all  this  is  in  such  marked  and  beautiful  con- 
trast to  the  life  of  an  ordinary  native  woman,  that  I 
love  to  dwell  upon  it.  The  heathen  women  are  without 
education,  and  without  useful  employment,  aside  from 
cooking  for  their  families.  Their  time  is  spent  in  use- 
less chatter,  or  clamorous  quarrelling.  A  man  would 
consider  it  the  last  and  deepest  disgrace  to  be  known 
to  have  asked  a  woman's  advice,  or  to  have  followed 
it  when  offered.  Such  a  thing  as  a  woman  gaining 
influence  for  good,  in  a  Hindu  community,  has  not 
been  known  for  the  last  two  thousand  years.  But  here 
was  a  woman,  from  amongst  that  very  people,  who, 
without  effort,  was  a  shining  light  to  the  full  extent 
of  her  sphere;  and  without  seeking  it,  exercised  an 
influence  on  all  around  her.  I  gratefully  acknowledge 
that,  humble  as  she  was,  I  valued  the  friendship  she 
bore  to  my  family.  The  last  tears  I  saw  on  her  face 
were  shed  when  she  sent  her  blessing  to  my  little  boy 
in  America.  Very  pleasant  was  she  to  us.  She  never 
quarrelled,  nor  slandered,  nor  excited  differences,  but 
was  a  healer  of  divisions.  The  difference  between  her 
and  her  heathen  countrywomen  must  have  been  seen, 
in  order  to  be  known;  and  all  this  was  in  such  beau- 
tiful quietness  and  modesty,  such  feminine,  and  even 
lady-like  delicacy.  This  woman  was  of  the  second 
generation  ot  Christians.  The  faults  that  I  have 
20 


230  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

hinted  at,  as  existing  in  her  father,  did  not  appear  in 
her.  The  benefit  of  early  education  in  Christianity  is 
here  most  manifest.  Nearly  all  our  hopes  are  placed 
on  the  generations  to  come,  whose  mothers  shall  have 
been  Christians. 

"  Jatni  suffered  many  sorrows  in  her  life.  She 
had  a  darling  little  son.  He  was  '  black,  but  comely.' 
It  may  be  that  you  will  be  scarcely  able  to  believe 
me  when  I  say,  that  I  have  not  seen  five  handsomer 
babies  in  my  life  than  was  little  Abraham,  black 
though  he  was;  but  it  is  quite  true.  He  was  finely 
formed,  with  a  skin  of  the  most  perfectly  healthy 
hue;  his  hair  so  fine,  and  his  large,  speaking,  black 
eyes  so  pleasant.  His  head  was  most  beautiful  in 
shape.  You  may  well  believe  that  he  was  his  mother's 
joy.  At  thirteen  months  of  age  he  was  suddenly 
cut  down  by  convulsions,  after  about  a  day's  illness. 
My  wife  and  I  saw  him  die.  Poor  Jatni,  who  was 
not  at  all  prepared  for  such  an  event,  cast  her  arms 
around  Mrs.  Warren's  waist,  and  hid  her  face  in  her 
bosom,  and  in  a  strain  very  similar  to  David's  lament 
for  Absalom,  bemoaned  her  loss.  But  she  neither 
did  nor  said  anything  unbecoming  her  Christian 
profession.  After  this  she  had  another  little  boy, 
almost  as  fine  a  child  as  little  Abraham,  who  died  iu 
the  same  way;  and  after  this  again  a  little  daughter. 
On  one  of  these  occasions,  for  a  few  moments,  she 
was  almost  wild  with  grief;  but  when  I  began  to 
hold  up  to  her  view  the  heaven  that  is  promised  to 
believers  and  their  infant  children,  she  at  once  laid 
hold  of  and  acknowledged  the  consolations  of  the 
gospel. 

"At  last  came  sickness — fever,  constantly  return- 
ing in  spite  of  all  that  could  be  done  to  check  it.  I 
suspected  consumption,  and  soon  it  showed  itself  in 
a  way  that  left  no  doubt  but  that  we  should  soon 
lose  her.  I  took  the  first  favourable  opportunity  to 
ask  her  how  she  felt  when  the  question  came  up  in 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  231 

her  mind,  whether  she  should  get  well  or  not.  I 
asked  this  with  all  the  care  and  softness  that  I 
could ;  because  I  knew  she  was  so  timid,  and  I  feared 
she  might  be  shocked  and  injured.  But  I  was 
delighted  to  find  that  she  had  thought  of  it,  and  had 
come  to  feel  willing  that  God  should  do  with  her,  as 
to  life,  just  as  he  pleased.  I  questioned  her  closely, 
and  set  death  and  the  judgment  before  her  plainly; 
but  her  nerves  were  firm,  her  eye  clear,  and  her 
voice  calm  and  steady:  her  uniform  profession,  from 
that  time  forward,  was,  *  I  know  Christ,  and  can 
fully  and  completely  trust  him  in  all  things.  He 
keeps  my  mind  in  perfect  peace.'  No  soldier  on  the 
field  of  battle,  and  no  brave  and  strong  man  in  dan- 
ger, ever  faced  death  with  more  cool,  unwavering 
courage,  than  did  this  weak,  timid,  shrinking  woman, 
though  shattered  by  sickness  and  pain.  I  saw  her 
often,  and  always  found  her  the  same. 

"  Her  disease  was  not  very  rapid  in  its  destructive 
•work.  She  wasted  away  for  some  months;  some- 
times she  had  hope  of  recovery;  but  that  hope  did 
not  produce  any  lessening  of  her  resignation,  nor  did 
it  seem  to  render  her  less  fit  for  her  great  change. 
At  length  she  gave  up  all  hope.  I  saw  very  little 
difference  in  her  after  this.  She  seemed  to  be  ready 
to  go ;  and  the  main  thing  that  I  could  notice  in  the 
state  of  her  mind,  was  a  quiet,  calm,  trustful  waiting 
for  the  set  time.  At  last,  one  Saturday  evening,  I 
saw  that  she  was  very  near  her  end.  I  talked  with 
her  about  the  work  that  the  Saviour  still  had  for  her 
to  do;  and  told  her  to  pray  for  grace  to  speak  and 
testify  for  him  to  the  last.  I  gave  orders  to  be 
called  during  the  night,  if  she  should  seem  to  be 
dying.  But  she  lived  throughout  Sunday.  I  went 
to  see  her  before  going  to  church  on  Sunday  evening, 
and  found  that  she  was  peaceful.  When  I  returned 
from  church  she  was  dead. 

"As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  I  had  come  into 


232  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

my  bungalow,  my  best  native  Christian  assistant 
came  to  tell  me  of  it.  To  my  surprise,  he  spoke  in 
a  tone  of  unusual  animation,  and  he  seemed  rejoicing. 
I  asked,  'How  did  she  die?'  '0,  sir,  such  a  thing 
was  never  seen  in  the  native  Christian  community  in 
this  part  of  the  country  before.  She  called  for  you, 
and  was  sorry  she  could  not  tell  you  how  much  she 
thanked  you  for  all  you  had  taught  her,  and  com- 
forted her.  Then  she  called  for  all  of  us,  and  when 
we  went  to  her,  she  asked,  if  she  had  oifended  any 
one ;  and  said,  that  if  she  had,  she  begged  for  par- 
don. Then  she  said,  she  wanted  to  tell  us  that 
Christ  was  with  her,  and  that  her  heart  was  full  of 
joy  and  faith.  Then  she  bade  us  all  farewell,  and 
prayed  for  us.  We  all  knelt  down  and  prayed  for 
her.  She  spoke  to  her  heathen  servant,  and  told 
him  to  become  a  Christian.  Then  she  remained 
silent  a  few  moments,  and  suddenly  died.'  I  said, 
*  This  is  a  very  happy  thing  that  has  occurred, 
Baboo.  This  is  not  like  a  common  death,  that  leaves 
a  faint  hope  and  a  great  deal  of  sorrow  behind.' 
'No,  sir;  it  is  not.  Come  out  and  see  the  people. 
You  will  see  how  those  who  loved  her  best  rejoice 
rather  than  'mourn.'  I  went  out,  and  found  a  large 
party  of  the  Christians  gathered  in  the  verandah. 
The  body  was  laid  out  there.  All  were  calm.  I 
talked  to  them  a  little  about  what  they  had  witnessed. 
Many  of  them  confessed,  that  when  they  had  heard 
from  us  how  happily  Christians  had  died,  they  had 
hardly  been  able  to  believe  it;  but  now  they  had  seen 
it — it  was  a  strange  thing  to  them.  They  had  known 
Christians  to  die  with  some  calmness;  but  they  had 
never  seen  one  triumphant  and  joyful. 

"The  next  day  we  laid  the  body  of  dear  Jatni 
beside  those  of  her  three  children.  After  the  prayer 
at  the  side  of  the  grave,  one  of  the  native  Christians, 
apparently  from  a  strong  impulse,  took  up,  in  the 
Hindustani  language,  the  beautiful  words  of  the 


IN   NOKTH   INDIA.  233 

Episcopal  burial  service — beautiful  when  said  over 
the  grave  of  a  true  believer — 'Forasmuch  as  it 
hath  pleased  Almighty  God,  of  his  great  mercy,  to 
take  unto  himself  the  soul  of  our  dear  sister,  here 
departed,  we  therefore  commit  her  body  to  the 
ground ;  earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust; 
in  sure  and  certain  hope  of  the  resurrection  to  eternal 
life,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  Then  we  all 
sprinkled  some  clay  on  her  coffin,  and  left  her  '  body, 
still  united  to  Christ,  to  rest  in  the  grave  till  the 
resurrection.' 

"What  a  glorious  faith  is  the  Christian's!  Dear 
reader,  'What  think  you  of  Christ?'  Is  he  worth 
following?  Will  you  ever  be  able  to  find  another 
friend  that  can  so  stand  by  you  in  your  greatest 
extremity. 

"  What  think  you  of  preaching  Christ?  It  was 
preaching  Christ  that  produced  these  scenes,  of 
which  I  have  been  writing.  What  do  you  think 
would  have  been  the  end  of  Jatni  without  the  gospel  ? 
Sullen  stupidity  and  hardness  of  heart — the  death  of 
a  beast;  or  raving  fear,  calling  on  idols  for  help,  and 
finding  none;  or  blaspheming  anger  against  the 
gods,  for  so  soon  calling  her  away  from  life.  These 
are  common  ways  in  which  death  is  met  in  this  coun- 
try. And  what  would  her  friends  have  done  without 
the  gospel  ?  They  would  have  jumped  about  as  if 
fire  were  being  applied  to  their  limbs,  and  would 
have  screamed  like  mad  people ;  and  would  have 
beaten  their  heads  against  the  side  of  the  bedstead  or 
the  walls  of  the  house;  their  eyes  would  have  rolled 
about,  while  they  beat  their  breasts  and  tore  their 
hair.  I  have  seen  all  this.  Who,  then,  would  say 
we  ought  not  to  send  the  gospel  to  India? 

"  Give  me  to  appear  before  the  great  white  throne, 
with  but  one  such  Indian  diamond  in  my  crown,  if 
it  may  be  no  more,  and  I  am  content !" 

I  have  given  this  obituary  thus  at  length,  because  I 
20* 


234  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

could  not  see  what  to  leave  out.  I  could  much  more 
easily  add  more.  These  also  are  not  all  the  cases 
that  could  he  brought  forward.  All  our  missions 
have  witnessed  scenes  of  peace  on  the  death-bed,  if 
not  of  triumph.  But  I  desire  not  to  weary  my  read- 
ers, and  therefore  will  not  do  more  in  this  particular 
direction;  though  I  am  well  aware  that  true  Chris- 
tians are  more  pleased  with  such  exhibitions  of  spirit- 
ual fruit  than  with  any  other  indications  of  success. 

Though  the  salvation  of  individual  souls  is  the 
most  pleasing  proof  of  success,  yet  the  general  effect 
of  our  labours  on  the  country  is  by  no  means  to  be 
left  out  of  sight.  Some  persons  may  even  think  such 
an  effect  of  more  consequence  than  any  other  form  of 
success ;  because,  if  Christianity  be  once  planted 
there,  the  salvation  of  souls  will  follow  as  a  matter  of 
course.  For  this  reason  I  will  make  as  careful  a 
statement  as  possible  of  the  influence  on  public  ideas 
which  Christianity  has  gained. 

Much  has  been  gained  by  our  religion  by  a  general 
impression  having  been  created  in  its  favour.  Fifteen, 
or  even  ten  years  ago  a  native  Christian  was  es- 
teemed a  monster.  A  convert  was  not  said  to  have 
changed  his  religion,  but  to  have  lost  it — to  have  be- 
come an  infidel,  or  worse.  Latterly  this  prejudice  is 
much  abated,  and  the  native  Christians  are  acknow- 
ledged to  have  a  religion.  Once  they  were  reviled, 
pushed  away  from  the  wells  and  other  public  places, 
and  were  a  proverb  for  everything  low.  To  become 
a  Christian,  was,  in  the  estimation  of  the  public,  to 
throw  off  every  restraint,  to  indulge  every  evil  pro- 
pensity, and  to  wallow  in  all  degradation.  The 
Christian  was  known  to  regard  no  kind  of  food  as 
unholy,  and  therefore  he  was  considered  as  worse 
than  even  the  Chamars,  who  acknowledge  some  re- 
straints, though  they  eat  cattle  that  die  of  disease. 
The  only  notion  that  was  generally  entertained  as  to 
the  restraints  of  religion,  was  that  they  related  to 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  235 

food  and  personal  connections;  but  now  the  natives 
known  that  our  religion  inculcates  a  pure  morality, 
self-denial,  and  labour  for  the  good  of  others.  Since 
this  knowledge  of  Christianity  has  been  spread  abroad, 
as  well  as  a  general  notion  of  its  doctrines,  the  na- 
tives treat  Christians  with  much  more  consideration, 
and  look  on  our  religion  as  something  really  respecta- 
ble. It  is  a  great  thing  to  have  been  able  to  get  the 
idea  of  a  spiritual  religion,  and  one  that  is  connected 
with  good  morals,  implanted  in  the  general  mind  of 
the  community.  Along  with  this  knowledge  of  our 
faith  is  widely  spread  the  impression  that  it  will  ulti- 
mately prevail.  We  are  often  told  by  the  natives 
that  we  shall  finally  uproot  Hinduism ;  that  the  pre- 
sent generation  will  not  be  converted,  but  the  next 
probably  will,  &c.  These  impressions  afford  us  more 
facilities  in  preaching  than  we  formerly  enjoyed. 
Once  Brtihmans  could  easily  drive  away  an  audience 
from  us;  now  it  is  rarely  attempted,  and  the  attempt 
almost  always  fails.  Once  we  were  often  opposed  by 
certain  other  classes,  who  now  usually  avoid  us. 
There  were  certain  standing  objections  to  Christianity 
and  defences  of  Hinduism,  which  were  often  brought 
forward  by  our  opponents,  and  are  now  generally 
abandoned.  There  were  gross  slanders  current  about 
our  converts,  such  as  that  we  bought  their  adhesion 
with  money  and  women,*  which  are  now  obsolete,  and 
seldom  repeated.  All  these  impressions,  that  have 
been  made  upon  the  mind  of  the  country,  are  valuable. 
They  are  not  saving  impressions;  and  nothing  short 
of  these  ought  to  satisfy  us.  Yet  we  are  not  to  des- 
pise them.  God  is  glorified  when  the  religion  of 
Christ  is  only  recommended  to  men  by  its  good  fruits, 
Matt.  v.  16.  And  this  work  has  been  done  to  such 
an  extent  that  something  like  an  excitement  has  been 

*  A  favourite  story  u^ed  to  he,  that  we  had  engaged  to  give  each 
convert  a  European  wife — such  a  wife  being  considered  beyond 
measure  valuable. 


236  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

produced  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  The  work 
at  Krishnagar  has  been  referred  to  already,  in  which 
a  multitude  were  converted.  This  is  below  our  terri- 
tory, and  where  missions  have  been  maintained  longer. 
In  our  region  we  have  seen  something  approaching  to 
it.  Near  Futtehgurh  a  village  was  for  a  time  in  a 
state  that  gave  great  hopes,  and  which  caused  very 
much  talk  in  that  region.  This  unhappily  died  away 
without  the  fruit  that  had  been  hoped  for;  but  we 
still  hope  that  some  favourable  effects  of  it  will  yet 
appear.  Near  Lodiana  is  a  sect  that  professes  to 
worship  only  Jesus.  It  derives  its  doctrines  from 
our  books,  and  adds  to  them.  Probably  there  is  much 
that  is  wrong  and  unchristian  in  this  sect;  but  the 
movement  is  indicative  of  a  ferment  caused  by  the 
leaven  of  truth.  We  also  hope  that  some  of  these 
people  may  yet  be  led  to  the  truth  by  it.  Other  facts 
of  this  kind  also  show  that  our  doctrines  are  spread- 
ing, and  are  producing  effect — there  is  a  shaking  of 
the  dry  bones. 

The  effect  that  has  been  produced  upon  the  prevail- 
ing ideas  of  caste  ought  to  be  noticed.  Formerly 
when  a  person  lost  caste,  he  was  not  only  socially 
avoided,  but  he  was  considered  wicked  and  despica- 
ble. To  speak  to  him  was  a  disgrace.  His  relatives 
avoided  him  as  they  would  the  plague,  and  even  hated 
him.  He  had  not  only  lost  his  social  position,  but 
had  brought  a  disgrace  upon  all  his  family.  Caste 
was  connected  with  religious,  as  well  as  with  social, 
ideas.  There  has  occurred  a  great  change  in  this 
respect.  Caste  has  not  Been  abolished — perhaps  is 
not  near  being  so;  but  it  has  lost  the  character  of 
holiness.  If  a  man  breaks  its  rules  he  is  equally  ex- 
cluded now  as  formerly;  but  the  exclusion  now  relates 
to  the  table,  to  intermarriage,  and  the  like.  It  does 
not  cause  people  to  treat  the  outcast  with  scorn. 
They  will  not  eat  with  him ;  but  they  content  them- 
selves with  avoiding  him  in  this  and  similar  things. 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  237 

He  is  rather  treated  as  a  stranger  than  a  disgraced 
person.  When  I  first  went  to  India  there  were  fre- 
quent cases  that  I  was  acquainted  with,  in  which  men 
fell  under  suspicion  of  having  transgressed  the  rules 
of  caste,  and  were  always  promptly  suspended  till 
they  could  prove  their  innocence  or  make  atonement. 
The  least  suspicion  alarmed  the  caste  immediately, 
and  they  most  jealously  guarded  their  purity.  An 
accused  man  had  the  burden  of  proof  laid  on  him — 
no  one  was  called  to  prove  his  offence,  but  he  must 
prove  his  innocence.  This  whole  thing  is  changed 
now.  The  Hindus  have  grown  so  indifferent  to  the 
old  ideas  of  the  holiness  of  caste,  that  they  do  not 
care  how  much  a  man  may  be  suspected.  Let  him 
eat  what,  and  with  whom,  he  will,  and  his  compeers 
will  deny  and  disbelieve  it  as  long  as  possible.  Tl^y 
will  refuse  to  take  up  and  examine  the  most  probable 
charges.  The  whole  burden  of  proof  is  laid  on  the 
accuser.  We  had  a  young  Brahman  candidate  for 
baptism,  who  several  times  ate  and  drank  with  us  and 
our  people,  and  afterward  repented  of  his  intention, 
and  went  away  from  us.  It  was  often  told  to  the 
members  of  his  caste  that  he  had  broken  caste,  but 
they  would  take  no  cognizance  of  the  case,  unless  a 
member  of  the  caste  would  come  forward  as  accuser, 
and  produce  eye-witnesses;  and  as  none  of  us  would 
go  to  give  testimony,  there  could  be  no  conviction. 
He  told  me,  when  I  asked  him  about  it,  "They  know 
that  I  should  join  with  the  Christians  immediately  if 
they  put  me  out;  and  though  they  know  I  am  totally 
a  transgressor,  for  whom  no  atonement  can  be  made, 
yet  they  do  not  choose  to  believe  it."  A  native 
Christian  woman  of  ours,  at  first  despised  and  rigidly 
exiled  by  her  family,  was  at  length  invited  to  visit 
them,  and  was  visited  by  them  at  my  place.  They 
seemed  to  have  very  pleasant  intercourse,  save  that 
the  heathen  relatives  avoided  eating  with  her.  This 
relaxation  of  caste  is  very  significant  arid  important. 


238  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

The  institution  may  linger  a  while;  but  we  may  look 
for  more  and  more  infractions  of  its  rules  continually. 
The  ideas  of  gentility,  as  connected  with  high  birth, 
will  cause  the  higher  castes  to  claim  consideration  on 
account  of  it  for  a  long  time  to  come;  but  when  it 
comes  to  be  a  mere  sign  of  social  rank,  it  will  be  only 
a  chained  lion  in  our  way. 

The  general  effects  above  spoken  of,  are  evident 
from  the  number  of  persons  that  become  inquirers  for 
a  time,  and  who,  if  they  do  not  become  convferts  to 
Christianity,  probably  assist  much  to  spread  a  know- 
ledge of  its  doctrines  and  spirit.  There  is  hardly 
any  time  when  each  station  has  not  one  or  more  per- 
sons under  special  instruction.  These  persons  are  of 
all  castes,  and  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Some 
of^hem  prove  converts,  and  are  admitted;  some  grow 
weary,  and  leave  us  when  they  find  our  religion  *o 
spiritual,  and  see  that  they  have  not  the  character  we 
require,  and  do  not  like  that  character,  and  find  that 
we  have  no  ceremonies  with  which  the  conscience  may 
be  amused  in  the  absence  of  a  knowledge  of  the  blood 
of  sprinkling ;  and  some  come  from  worldly  motives, 
play  the  hypocrite  while  it  serves  their  purpose,  and 
then  go  away.  Some  also  are  prevented  from  making 
a  profession  of  Christianity  by  peculiar  causes  or 
infirmities.  I  will  here  give  some  personal  anecdotes, 
which  will  show  what  is  meant,  better  than  these  mere 
general  statements.  It  will  not  be  necessary,  in  this 
connection,  to  give  the  history  of  a  convert;  for  these 
may  be  sufficiently  gathered  from,  other  places.  I 
will  only  mention  some  of  those  who  have  not  yet 
made  a  profession  of  Christianity. 

About  seven  years  since,  I  visited  a  village  thirty- 
five  miles  above  Allahabad,  on  the  bank  of  the  Ganges. 
The  village  possesses  peculiar  interest  from  two  £acts. 
It  formerly  had  a  fort,  which  commanded  the  Ganges 
at  that  point,  built  upon  an  eminence  of  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet — one  of  the  only  two  considera- 


IN    NORTH   INDIA.  239 

ble  heights  that  I  know  of  on  the  Upper  Ganges.  This 
fort  was  the  stronghold  of  a  Hindu  king,  and  was 
taken,  after  a  long  siege,  by  one  of  the  early  Moham- 
medan emperors.  An  immense  number  of  persons 
perished  in  the  besieging  army.  The  tradition  is,  that 
the  number  was  only  five  less  than  a  hundred  thousand ; 
and  the  Mohammedans  say,  that,  as  they  all  perished 
either  in  fighting  for  the  faith,  or  in  attendance  on  the 
army  of  the  faithful,  had  there  been  only  five  more, 
to  make  up  the  round  hundred  thousand,  the  place 
would  have  become  as  holy  as  Mecca  the  Honourable. 
The  burying-ground  outside  of  the  town  is  one  of  the 
most  impressive  of  all  scenes,  presenting  as  complete 
a  notion  of  the  horrors  of  war  as  can  be  found.  On 
battle-fields  the  dead  are  thrown  into  a  common  trench, 
and  their  graves  do  not  afterwards  suggest  the  details 
of  the  slaughter;  but  here,  as  the  sword  or  the  pesti- 
lence cut  down  one  after  another,  they  were  separately 
buried,  and  a  brick  grave  constructed  for  each,  of  dif- 
ferent sizes  and  styles,  corresponding  to  the  different 
ranks.  These  graves  remain,  in  all  states  of  preserva- 
tion and  decay,  covering  a  desolate  plain  of  great 
extent,  and  forming  a  monument  of  the  siege  unequal- 
led in  size  and  appropriateness. 

The  other  interesting  fact  is,  that  ever  since  the  cap- 
ture of  that  fortress,  the  town  has  been  the  residence 
of  some  Mohammedan  families  of  distinction,  which, 
though  now  much  decayed,  are  still  considered  to  be- 
long to  the  principal  aristocracy  of  the  country.  I 
visited  some  of  these  families,  and  preached  there, 
beside  holding  disputations  in  two  of  their  houses.  I 
found  that  Mr.  Scott,  my  associate  in  the  voyage  to 
India,  had  stopped  there  on  his  way  to  Futtehgurh, 
and  had  given  them  some  tracts.  A  young  man 
seemed  much  interested  when  I  preached,  and  followed 
me  around,  offering  me  such  polite  attention  as  he 
could.  Afterwards  he  visited  me  at  my  house  repeat- 
edly, held  arguments,  made  inquiries,  arid  read  such 


240  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

books  as  I  recommended.  He  made  acquaintance  with 
my  native  Christians,  and  received  much  instruction 
from  the  catechists.  We  had  great  hopes  of  him,  and 
his  friends  considered  him  to  have  gone  so  far  as  to  be 
unworthy  of  the  social  privileges  of  caste.  They  re- 
fused to  eat  or  drink  with  him,  till  he  should  renounce 
intercourse  with  us.  He  continued  in  this  way  for 
several  months,  and  professed  to  have  entirely  lost  his 
belief  in  Mohammedanism ;  of  the  truth  of  which  pro- 
fession I  have  no  doubt.  He  found  difficulties  in  some 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Testament,  especially  in 
that  of  the  divinity  of  Christ.  We  could  not  persuade 
him  to  let  the  discussion  of  such  points  alone,  till  he 
had  examined  the  main  question,  as  to  the  authority 
of  the  gospel ;  but  he  would  perplex  himself  with  them. 
After  exciting  our  hopes  to  the  utmost,  he  gradually 
grew  cool,  and  drew  back;  though  he  still  professes 
friendship  for  us,  and  a  general  belief  in  Christianity. 
His  friends  were  very  anxious  about  him  all  the  time 
that  he  was  himself  anxious;  and  they  often  visited 
us,  and  sought  to  put  us  down  by  argument.  The  ex- 
citement about  this  young  man  was  the  occasion  of  a 
great  deal  of  preaching;  and  many  of  the  friends  of 
his  family  became  acquainted  with  Christianity  to  a 
great  extent.  We  still  hope  for  good  effects  from  this 
case. 

On  one  Sabbath  morning,  I  went  to  preach  for  one 
of  the  other  missionaries  at  the  mission  church,  leaving 
my  assistant,  B&bu  Hari,  to  preach  at  the  chapel  con- 
nected with  the  printing-house.  As  I  have  before 
stated,  this  chapel  faces  the  b4z4r  road,  and  is  often 
attended  by  Hindus  and  Mohammedans  from  curiosity. 
After  I  returned,  B£bu  Hari  brought  to  me  a  young 
man,  apparently  about  twenty-two  years  old,  who 
had  attended  his  preaching  that  morning,  and  after- 
wards called  on  him  at  his  house.  I  noticed  that  the 
Bdbu  appeared  much  pleased;  and  on  asking  what  had 
happened — what  the  young  man  wanted — I  learned 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  241 

that  he  had  been  found,  after  the  service,  looking  at 
the  Babii's  house  from  a  little  distance,  and  expressing 
a  great  desire  to  make  his  acquaintance.  On  being 
introduced,  he  told  the  Babu  that  he  had  long  been 
seeking  the  way  of  salvation  ;  that  ever  since  his  mere 
boyhood  he  had  been  dissatisfied  with  Hinduism,  and 
had  sought  for  spiritual  direction  from  the  Mahratta 
Brahmans,  amongst  whom  he  had  lived  in  Central 
India,  without  finding  any  rest,  or  good  hope  that  his 
sins  would  be  forgiven,  through  any  course  which  they 
directed  him  to  pursue;  that  he  had  then  practised 
austerities  under  the  direction  of  some  faqirs,  who 
lived  on  Mount  A'bu,  with  the  same  want  of  success; 
that  he  had  then  attached  himself  to  some  Moham- 
medan faqirs,  and  found  no  relief  under  their  direc- 
tion; and  that  latterly  he  had  been  wandering  as 
chance  led  him,  in  the  hope  that  he  should  find  some 
one  to  show  him  the  right  way.  Then,  he  said,  this 
morning,  when  I  saw  your  chapel  open,  and  one  or 
two  going  in,  I  also  went  in ;  and  you  were  just  stat- 
ing how  Christ,  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  had  laid 
the  ground  for  the  full  pardon  of  all  who  believe, 
and  lives  and  reigns  now  to  intercede  for  and  govern 
his  people ;  and  that  our  own  righteousness  can  never 
do  us  any  good,  while  his  is  perfect.  It  came  into 
my  heart  at  once,  "This  is  the  righteousness  that  you 
need:  you  know  how  long  you  have  tried  to  gain 
righteousness,  and  cannot — and  here  it  can  be  given 
to  you.  This  is  what  you  want."  On  further  con- 
versing with  him,  I  thought  he  appeared  more  like  an 
apostolic  convert  than  any  one  I  had  ever  seen;  he 
seemed  so  entirely  humble,  and  perfectly  sensible  that 
he  was  a  ruined  and  helpless  sinner,  and  appeared 
able  to  see  through  the  doctrine  of  substitution  so 
clearly;  his  love  of  God  and  Christ  seemed  so  sim- 
ple, grateful  and  childlike;  and  his  past  ignorance  of 
the  gospel  seemed  so  complete,  while  his  ready  acqui- 
escence in  its  statements  was  accompanied  with  such 
"21 


242  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

admiring  wonder  and  joy,  that  the  Babu  and  I  could 
scarcely  refrain  from  tears.  We  kept  him  with  us, 
and  instructed  him.  We  found  that,  though  a  Mah- 
ratta,  he  could  understand  Hindi  very  well,  and  had 
no  difficulty  in  reading  it,  because  both  languages  are 
usually  written  in  the  Sanscrit  character.  A  gentle- 
man authorized  me  to  give  him  four  rupees  a  month 
as  a  subsistence  allowance  on  his  account,  till  we 
should  see  what  he  would  prove  to  be.  He  remained 
with  us  about  six  weeks,  and  read  industriously, 
attending  all  our  religious  services,  both  social  and 
public.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  when  the  cool  sea- 
son was  just  setting  in,  he  came  to  me  in  the  morning 
and  asked  for  a  month's  allowance  in  advance,  to 
enable  him  to  get  a  padded  cotton  surcoat  for  winter, 
and  said  that  he  was  going  down  to  the  city  to  get  it. 
He  then  borrowed  a  fine  suit  of  winter  clothing,  which 
had  just  been  purchased  by  one  of  the  young  men  in 
the  printing-house,  giving  him  the  same  account  of 
what  he  intended  to  do,  and  started  for  the  city.  We 
never  saw  or  heard  of  him  afterwards.  We  debated 
many  questions  about  him,  with  no  result.  Had  he 
been  a  hypocrite  all  the  time?  His  disappearance 
with  the  money  and  borrowed  clothes  looked  like  it. 
But  if  so,  where  did  he  get  the  knowledge  of  Chris- 
tianity that  enabled  him  to  play  his  game  in  such  an 
exquisitely  perfect  manner?  If  he  was  a  true  man, 
what  became  of  him  ?  Was  it  not  possible  that  he 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Thugs,  or  some  other  class  of 
robbers,  and  was  put  out  of  the  way?  Mysterious 
disappearances  from  such  causes  were  not  at  all  un- 
common formerly,  though  less  frequent  lately.  Our 
general  impression  was,  that  he  was  a  thief;  but  while 
we  were  thus  blaming  him,  perhaps  he  was  gone  a 
saint — perhaps  a  martyr — to  glory.  It  is  not  likely 
that  we  shall  ever,  in  this  world,  learn  more  of  this 
chapter  of  my  experience. 

One  of  the  members  of  our  church  at  Allahabad  is 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  243 

the  son  of  a  Mohammedan  gentleman,  who  is  the 
head  of  one  of  the  twelve  sacred  families  of  that  city. 
The  father  had  long  been  in  the  habit  of  cultivating 
the  acquaintance  of  English  gentlemen ;  and  when  our 
mission  was  formed  at  that  place  he  made  our  ac- 
quaintance. We  talked  much  with  him,  and  were  the 
means  of  convincing  him  of  the  truth  of  Christianity. 
His  son  was  introduced  to  us  by  him,  and  soon 
wished  to  profess  our  religion.  The  father  made  no 
objection,  and  the  son  was  received.  The  father 
often  proposed  being  baptized ;  but  as  often  as  he  did 
so,  he  had  some  scruple,  or  made  some  difficulty,  that 
hindered  the  affair.  At  one  time  he  objected  to  sit- 
ting at  the  communion-table,  on  account  of  two  or 
three  of  our  members,  who  had  been  low  caste  Hin- 
dus. At  another,  he  objected  to  the  use  of  wine  at 
the  communion,  because  he  had  never  used  it,  and 
feared  it  would  make  him  sick.  At  another,  he  said 
his  baptism  must  be  in  private,  and  kept  secret,  be- 
cause he  was  afraid  he  should  be  murdered  by  hia 
relatives.  And  at  another  time  he  said  he  would  be 
baptized,  if  we  would  allow  his  body  to  be  buried  by 
his  Mohammedan  friends,  and  as  that  of  a  Mohamme- 
dan; because  he  was  descended  from  kings,  and  was 
far  too  noble  to  lie  down  with  the  indiscriminate  mob 
ofthe  dead  in  a  Christian  burying-ground.  We  faith- 
fully and  affectionately  met  his  objections,  teaching 
him  as  he  needed ;  and  he  often  appeared  so  well, 
giving  up  his  objections,  that  we  were  frequently  on 
the  point  of  baptizing  him;  but  then  he  would  always 
stay  proceedings  by  some  new  fancy,  or  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  something  unchristian  in  his  disposition.  After 
he  had  passed  several  years  in  this  way,  he  at  last  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  Christ  would  receive  and  save 
him  without  baptism;  saying  that  he  was  only  nomi- 
nally a  Musalm.ln,  and  was  known  by  all  not  to  prac- 
tise any  Musalm&n  rites,  and  to  believe  in  Christ. 
He  is  old  and  somewhat  childish  now;  and  how  far 


244  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

the  decay  of  his  intellect,  and  the  power  of  his  former 
prejudices,  may  have  caused  true  faith  to  be  imper- 
fect in  its  action  and  development,  we  cannot  tell. 
I  saw  him  when  last  in  Allahabad,  and  exhorted  him 
to  become  a  Christian.  He  answered  me,  with  a 
smile,  "I  am  a  Christian."  He  had  come  to  see  me 
at  considerable  inconvenience  to  himself,  being  old 
and  sick ;  and  showed  a  good  deal  of  affection  for  me 
and  my  family. 

A  few  years  since  I  formed  an  acquaintance  with 
a  lawyer,  practising  in  the  courts  at  Allahabad,  on 
the  occasion  of  having  some  business  in  one  of  the 
courts  as  treasurer  of  the  mission.  Out  of  our  busi- 
ness connection  grew  up  a  considerable  acquaintance 
and  intimacy  between  the  lawyer  and  our  catechists ; 
and  we  talked  with  him  about  Christianity.  After  I 
left  Allahabad  for  Agra  his  intimacy  with  our  people 
and  my  successor  continued,  and  I  heard  that  he  was 
near  making  a  profession  of  our  religion.  But  when 
I  came  down  again,  on  my  way  home,  he  came  to  see 
me,  and  showed  me  his  doubts  about  the  divinity  of 
Christ  and  the  inspiration  of  Paul's  epistles.  I  know 
not  how  he  had  imbibed  such  doubts.  We  conversed 
together  about  three  hours,  and  I  tried  to  settle  him 
in  the  faith,  but  not  with  decided  success.  He  seemed 
to  me  to  be  completely  converted  from  Mohammedrfn- 
ism,  but  not  to  Christianity;  though  he  appeared 
devout  and  honest.  The  last  that  I  knew  of  him  was, 
that  he  remained  suspended  in  doubt,  but  still  under 
instruction.  It  is  probable  that  his  self-conceit  as  an. 
intellectual  and  learned  man,  and  perhaps  his  vanity 
as  an  acute  disputant,  hindered  him  from  a  full  recep- 
tion of  the  truth. 

Our  brethren  at  Saharunpore  have  had  an  interest- 
ing case  of  a  convert  from  a  village  near  that  place, 
whose  baptism  was  delayed  till  he  was  taken  sick, 
when  he  caused  himself  to  be  brought  to  them,  and 
would  have  been  baptized,  had  not  they  thought  that 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  245 

the  natives  would  say,  that  they  had  improperly 
wrought  upon  him  to  receive  the  ordinance  when  he 
was  senseless  or  imbecile.  He  died  professing  faith 
in  Christ,  and  his  family  and  connections  are  still 
well  disposed  towards  us. 

There  are  other  persons,  whose  cases  illustrate  the 
fact  that  our  doctrines  are  spreading  and  becoming 
influential.  There  are  some  who  believe,  and  yet  do 
not  become  personally  acquainted  with  any  mission- 
ary, and  have  not  the  opportunity  to  learn  anything 
about  the  way  of  confessing  Christ  before  men. 
There  may  be  many  hidden  ones  here  and  there,  who 
have  not  access  to  any  church,  and  do  not  know  the 
usual  mode  of  proceeding  after  believing.  An  instance 
of  this  kind  is  noticed  in  the  fifth  chapter,  in  the 
account  of  the  fair  of  1850 ;  and  another  in  a  letter 
quoted  from  a  friend.  A  young  man  of  my  acquaint- 
ance recently  died  at  Allahabad  confessing  Christ 
earnestly,  though  he  had  not  had  decision  enough  to 
give  up  all  for  Christ  by  joining  us.  I  knew  a  debat- 
ing society  of  Hindus  at  Agra,  who  opened  their 
meetings  with  prayer  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and 
wrote  their  performances  on  the  basis  of  Christian 
truth,  though  none  of  them  were  yet  prepared  to  lose 
all  for  Christ. 

Our  churches  have  received  considerable  accessions 
from  the  orphan  asylums.  These  institutions  have 
been  very  useful.  They  were  formed  during  and  im- 
mediately after  the  great  famine  of  1837.  These 
asylums  are  accounted  for  in  Chapter  III,  on  the 
printing-house.  From  these  all  the  churches  have 
received  accessions,  and  the  native  Christian  commu- 
nities are  much  enlarged  by  them.  Many  of  these 
people  are  now  married,  and  are  raising  up  families 
in  our  connection.  These  asylums  have  preached  loud- 
ly to  the  heathen.  The  benevolence  that  gathered 
and  sustains  them  has  been  a  beautiful  proof  of  the 
kind  spirit  of  Christianity.  They  are  therefore  most 
21* 


246  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

important.  Some  of  our  native  assistant  preachers 
have  come  from  them.  All  the  members  of  commu- 
nities, that  have  been  raised  up  in  them,  have  been 
entirely  separated  from  all  native  castes,  and  have  no 
interests  conflicting  with  their  Christian  relations. 
Too  much  ought  not  to  be  expected  of  them;  for  the 
bad  health  that  results  from  their  early  privations, 
and  the  helplessness  of  character  that  often  is  pro- 
duced by  such  a  secluded  education,  operate  as  hin- 
derances  to  their  usefulness.  But  the  valuable  labours 
and  influence  of  many  of  them,  the  nuclei  they  form 
for  communities,  and  the  improvement  in  their  child- 
ren, are  advantages  gained,  that  ought  to  be  estimated 
highly  in  an  account  of  our  success. 

A  sign  that  our  doctrines  are  producing  an  effect 
upon  the  country,  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  works  of 
controversy  against  them  have  been  called  forth.  The 
Mohammedans  and  Hindus  would  never  have  written 
against  us,  had  they  not  seen  that  there  was  a  danger 
to  their  systems,  to  be  averted  if  possible.  The  Mo- 
hammedans have  produced  many  works,  the  greater 
part  of  which  are  against  the  Christian  views  as  to  the 
Godhead,  and  the  authenticity  of  our  Scriptures.  One 
of  these  books  enters  very  largely  into  an  exhibition 
of  alleged  discrepancies  of  Scripture;  and  to  make 
these  appear  as  numerous  as  possible,  the  author  takes 
up  our  different  translations,  together  with  the  Persian 
and  Arabic  ones,  and  takes  the  same  verse  from  all, 
giving  his  own  interpretation  of  what  each  version 
means,  and  so  making  the  differences  to  appear  as 
great  as  the  most  strained  and  unfair  treatment  can 
do.  These  works  also  bring  forward  other  objections 
to  the  Bible.  The  stories  of  Noah's  intoxication,  and 
of  Lot  and  his  daughters,  are  treated  as  profane  and 
wicked  slanders  of  prophets,  and  are  said  to  be  sure 
indications  that  the  book  is  not  the  true  and  original 
book  of  God,  but  a  corruption  of  it.  They  also  allege 
that  there  were  prophecies  of  Mohammed  as  the  last 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  247 

of  the  prophets,  which  we  have  erased  from  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments;  and  thus  they  attempt  to  show, 
that  although  they  do  profess  to  believe  in  the  Penta- 
teuch, the  Psalms,  and  the  Gospel,  they  need  not  and 
ought  not  to  allow  our  Bible  to  be  of  any  force  in 
controversy.  These  books  have  been  answered,  and 
several  others  written,  attacking  their  systems.  Our 
missions  have  produced  some  valuable  books  bearing 
on  this  controversy.  The  circulation  of  native  books 
is  rather  limited. 

The  Hindus  have  made  less  attempts  to  defend  their 
system  in  this  way.  One  such  was  made  at  Benares, 
a  few  years  ago.  A  young  Pandit  was  induced  by  the 
Benares  Br&hmans  to  stand  forward  as  their  champion, 
and  write  a  refutation  of  the  Bible;  but  his  attempt 
resulted  in  his  own  conversion,  and  he  is  now  a  useful 
preacher  of  the  gospel. 

Much  has  been  done  for  Christianity  by  schools. 
All  our  mission  stations  have  schools  of  various  kinds. 
There  are  small  vernacular  schools,  with  Hindu  teach- 
ers, in  which  Christian  books  are  used,  and  which  the 
missionaries  visit  as  often  as  they  can,  to  give  them 
religious  instruction.  They  also  often  make  the  places 
where  these  schools  are  kept,  stands  for  preaching. 
Many  b:>ys  that  are  brought  up  in  these  little  schools 
remain  our  firm  friends,  and  the  most  intelligent 
hearers  of  preaching  amongst  the  common  classes  of 
natives.  I  have  several  times  been  befriended  and 
supported  in  my  efforts  in  the  bazdrs,  by  former  pupils 
in  our  schools.  Every  station  also  has  its  central 
school,  in  which  English  and  science  are  taught,  as 
well  as  the  vernacular. 

Lately  there  has  grown  up  a  feeling,  in  certain 
quarters  in  America,  that  missionaries  ought,  not  to 
engage  at  all  in  giving  instruction  in  secular  know- 
ledge, but  ought  to  confine  themselves  to  the  direct 
preaching  of  the  gospel.  This  agitation  I  regret;  for 
popular  excitements  are  always  liable  to  proceed  too 


248  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

far.  If  this  movement  should  result  in  the  destruction 
of  schools,  instead  of  being  confined  to  the  correction 
of  occasional  abuses,  it  will  be  evil.  I  have  never  been 
engaged  in  teaching  a  native  school  to  such  an  extent 
as  at  all  to  identify  me  personally  with  them,  or  give 
any  bias  to  my  convictions  on  this  point;  and  there- 
fore I  may  claim  to  be  a  better  judge  of  the  policy  of 
teaching  than  a  professed  teacher  would  be  allowed  to 
be;  and  better,  perhaps,  than  those  who  have  had  less, 
or  no  opportunities  for  extended  personal  observation. 
First,  then,  the  teaching  of  a  school  does  not  usually, 
and  ought  never  to  hinder  a  missionary  from  preach- 
ing. Whoever  has  read  my  chapters  on  preaching  at 
the  stations,  and  itinerating,  will  perceive  that  a  mis- 
sionary who  teaches  a  few  hours  in  the  day,  may  still 
have  the  morning  and  the  evening  for  street  and  chapel 
preaching.  If  any  neglect  this  branch  of  their  labour, 
they  should  be  dealt  with  as  individuals,  and  brought 
to  their  duty.  To  abolish  the  schools  would  be  a  poor 
remedy,  and  probably  not  a  successful  one.  A  man 
who  will  not  preach  when  he  has  the  opportunity, 
should  be  recalled.  The  teacher  may,  and  ought  to, 
spend  his  winter  vacation  in  itinerating.  The  schools 
ought  to  be  so  arranged  that  the  missionary  should 
not  be  employed  in  teaching  more  than  two  or  three 
hours  daily;  and  then  he  would  have  no  excuse  for  not 
preaching  at  least  once  a  day.  The  schoolroom  is  as 
good  a  preaching-place  as  any  other.  Indeed  it  affords 
more  facilities  than  the  street.  We  here  retain  the 
same  audience  through  many  successive  occasions,  and 
thus  have  a  better  opportunity  to  enforce  and  illus- 
trate the  truth;  while  in  the  street  we  have  the  most 
fluctuating  attendance.  Not  that  the  street  ought  to 
be  forsaken  for  the  school;  and,  equally,  the  school 
ought  not  to  be  abolished  for  the  sake  of  the  street — 
especially  when  both  can  be  attended  to  as  well  as 
either  alone. 

Secondly,  it  is  a  fact  that  no  instruction  can  be 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  249 

given  to  Hindus  on  such  matters  as  geography  and 
astronomy,  without  proving  to  them  the  falsehood  of 
some  of  their  sacred  books,  and  showing  them  most 
clearly  the  absurdity  of  some  of  their  religious  dog- 
mas. And  if  the  missionaries  do  not  teach  them, 
they  leave  them  so  much  under  the  influence  of  their 
pandits,  whose  power  is,  to  a  great  extent,  founded  on 
their  supposed  knowledge  of  these  matters.  Not  to 
teach,  is  to  surrender  the  use  of  powerful  weapons  to 
our  adversaries.  And  if  the  reader  will  refer  to  my 
remarks  on  the  importance  of  a  Christian  literature, 
contained  in  the  chapter  on  the  preparation  of  books, 
he  will  see  the  importance  and  necessity  of  our  teach- 
ing history,  in  order  to  prepare  the  native  mind  for 
the  reception  of  the  evidences  of  our  religion.  I  do 
not  mean  to  limit  the  power  of  God's  grace,  which 
can  produce  conviction  in  any  circumstances;  but 
still  I  am  writing  on  the  principle  that  means  ought 
to  be  adapted  to  produce  the  end  desired. 

Another  reason  for  giving  secular  instruction  is, 
that  it  benefits  the  people;  and  it  is  the  work  of 
Christianity  to  practise  all  kinds  of  beneficence. 
One  of  the  most  powerful  objections  to  Christianity, 
which  are  ignorantly  brought  forward  by  infidels,  is, 
that  it  is  all  for  the  soul,  and  nothing  for  the  body ; 
and  the  best  answer  that  can  be  given  to  the  objection 
is,  to  point  to  the  schools  and  hospitals,  and  similar 
institutions,  that  exist  almost  exclusively  in  Chris- 
tian lands.  Now,  the  natives  of  Hindustan  see  the 
benign  nature  of  our  religion  in  the  schools  that  we 
support  and  teach;  and  thus  these  institutions  actually 
preach — sometimes  with  a  more  distinct  and  forcible 
utterance  than  could  be  employed  by  their  teachers 
in  any  other  capacity. 

The  last  that  I  heard  of  the  mission-school  at 
Allahabad,  it  had  six  hundred  scholars  on  its  roll,  and 
the  roll  was  purged  every  month  of  all  names  marked 
absent  during  the  whole  previous  mouth.  The  mis- 


250  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

sionary  at  the  head  of  that  school  can  give  a  lecture 
every  morning  on  the  passage  of  Scripture  read, 
which  will  be  understood  and  appreciated  by  about 
half  of  the  school — a  far  larger  audience  than  he  could 
usually  gain  in  the  town.  He  can  teach  Bible  lessons 
to  the  higher  classes;  his  native  Christian  teachers 
do  the  same  to  the  lower  classes ;  the  pupils  all  learn 
Scripture  history  and  the  evidences  of  Christianity ; 
and  the  whole  powerful  influence  of  the  institution  is 
in  favour  of  the  truth. 

"  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with 
thy  might."  We  ought  to  use  all  the  instruments 
of  doing  good;  and  in  such  proportions  and  combina- 
tions as  shall  accomplish  the  greatest  amount  of  good. 
We  ought  to  preach  and  teach,  to  write  and  print. 
Why  is  it  necessary  that  contending  for  one  thing 
that  is  right  should  set  us  against  another  thing  that 
is  also  right?  Ultraism  is  no  more  proper  in  regard 
to  the  duty  of  direct  preaching  than  in  anything  else. 

The  East  India  Company  supports  several  colleges 
for  the  education  of  the  natives.  Until  recently  the 
teachers  in  these  colleges  were  forbidden  to  teach 
Christianity.  Now  there  is  guarded  liberty  to  use 
the  Bible  in  the  instruction  of  pupils  who  do  not  ob- 
ject to  it.  The  influence  of  these  schools  is  in  favour 
of  the  demolition  of  the  native  superstitions,  and  is  so 
far  good.  The  government  has  also  determined  to 
aid  private  and  missionary  schools  under  certain  con- 
ditions. These  improvements  in  the  efforts  of  the 
government  k>  promote  sound  education  must  be  attri- 
buted, in  some  measure,  to  the  influence  of  missions. 
The  mission  schools  have  triumphantly  shown  that 
there  is  no  danger  resulting  from  teaching  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  also  that  schools  will  not  be  deserted 
because  of  their  introduction.  These  schools,  the 
railroads  and  telegraphs,  and  other  influences  that  are 
brought  to  bear  on  India,  give  hope  that  some  great 
changes  are  impending;  and  the  Church  ought  to 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  251 

seize  her  full  share  of  the  influence  to  be  exerted,  and 
hold  herself  in  readiness  to  use  every  future  oppor- 
tunity. 

It  would  not  be  right  to  close  this  part  of  my  work 
•without  making  a  plea  for  the  country  in  which  I 
have  so  long  lived  and  laboured ;  and  if  it  were  not 
appropriate,  still  my  feelings  would  impel  me  to  it. 
We  have  seen  that  the  people  need  the  gospel ;  that 
we  have  liberty,  protection  and  health  to  a  good  de- 
gree while  proclaiming  it;  that  the  people  are  acces- 
sible ;  that  a  great  part  of  the  preparatory  work  has 
been  done,  and  a  great  many  influences  aid  us;  and 
that  thousands  are  prepared,  so  far  as  knowledge  is 
concerned,  to  be  made  the  subjects  of  converting 
grace,  if  the  Spirit  of  God  were  poured  out  upon 
them.  The  word  is  the  instrument  of  the  Spirit. 
That  instrument  is  there  present.  It  does  not  merely 
lie  in  books,  but  also  in  the  minds  of  thousands  of  the 
people:  they  know  enough  to  be  wrought  upon  with- 
out further  preparation,  or  any  further  miracle  than 
is  performed  in  every  conversion  from  sin  to  holiness. 

If  this  be  true,  then  the  time  is  come  that  the 
Church  should  pray,  with  more  earnestness  and  fervour 
than  ever  before,  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  upon  India,  and  upon  all  fields  similarly  white  to 
the  harvest.  This  is  the  great  want  of  the  present 
time.  Prayer  is  more  restrained  than  contributions 
or  personal  effort.  There  is  not  enough  of  either; 
but  Christians  seem  more  ready  to  give  and  labour 
than  to  accompany  their  gifts  with  earnest,  agonizing 
prayer,  that  God  would  follow  them  with  his  blessing. 
The  formality,  the  brevity,  and  the  cold  tone  of 
prayers  offered  for  the  heathen,  together  with  the 
small  attendance  at  missionary  prayer-meetings,  show 
that  this  is  true.  Christians  lack  enlarged  thoughts 
and  high  aspirations  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  Christ. 
They  feel  less  than  they  ought  for  either  Christ,  the 
Church,  or  for  souls.  From  want  of  feeling,  belief, 


252  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

though  real,  becomes  low  and  uninfluential;  and  the 
prayer-meeting,  which  relates  to  things  so  little  felt 
and  appreciated,  languishes;  the  petitions  for  the 
heathen  become  everywhere  few,  and  are  crowded 
into  the  end  of  the  prayer,  where  they  ought  not  to 
be,  if  Christ  arranged  the  subjects  of  prayer  properly 
when  he  taught  his  disciples  to  pray.  The  meeting 
thus  becomes  a  burdensome  ceremony;  and  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  smallest  excuses  serve  to  keep  people 
away.  So  it  happens  that  when  Christians  are  assem- 
bled to  pray  about  our  Saviour's  very  last  command, 
and  may  think  that  they  have  a  clear  right  to  expect 
the  special  fulfilment  of  the  promise  that  accompanies 
it,  then  it  is  that  He  seems  least  of  all  present  with 
them.  This,  surely,  is  not  his  fault.  If  our  services 
were  of  the  right  character,  we  should  not  lack  his 
presence.  If  we  felt  as  we  ought  about  the  cause  of 
Christ,  we  should  be  drawn  to  the  place  of  prayer; 
we  should  go  to  pour  out  desires  that  would  not  be 
restrained;  we  should  seek  there  the  exercise  and 
relief  of  overpowering  affections.  Then  Christ  would 
keep  his  promise  to  us;  and  we  have  no  right  to  it 
otherwise.  If  we  prepare  the  altar,  the  wood,  and 
the  offering,  he  will  be  sure  to  send  down  the  fire 
from  heaven. 

Then  let  us  pray  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  do  his 
part  of  the  work  of  conversion — the  indispensable 
and  only  efficient  part — in  the  hearts  of  the  multi- 
tudes whom  we  have  taught  in  the  cities,  in  the  vil- 
lages and  by  the  wayside,  in  the  schools  and  by  the 
press.  The  seed  lies  in  their  minds.  The  Holy  Spirit 
can  cause  it  to  germinate,  and  send  its  roots  all 
through  their  hearts.  God  waits  to  be  gracious:  for 
these  things  he  will  be  inquired  of  by  us,  to  do  them 
for  us.  Shall  these  enlightened  heathens  die,  with 
the  unfruitful  seed  in  their  hearts,  to  spring  up  and 
bring  forth  the  fruit  of  eternal  remorse  hereafter,  be- 
cause we  will  not  take  up  a  position  which  God  can 


IN   NORTH   INDIA.  253 

bless  consistently  with  his  glory?  It  is  a  dreadful 
thought,  that  after  all  that  has  been  done  for  the  hea- 
then, we  should  be  the  occasion  of  the  crowning  mercy 
being  withheld  from  them.  Let  us  learn  to  pray  for 
Christ  and  his  kingdom  first,  before  we  ask  for  daily 
bread  or  any  other  mercy  to  ourselves. 

If  the  Spirit  were  poured  out  on  our  missions  in 
answer  to  prayer,  and  the  intelligence  were  to  come 
over,  month  after  month,  of  souls  pressing  into  the 
kingdom,  what  an  impulse  would  be  given  to  all  that 
is  good  here !  How  faith  would  be  strengthened,  and 
love  and  zeal  warmed,  and  efforts  redoubled,  and  a 
blessed  revival  be  secured  even  here,  that  would 
fully  show  that  "he  that-watereth,  shall  himself  be 
watered." 


22 


254  MISSIONARY  LIFE 


CONCLUSION. 

THERE  are  many  other  topics  which  a  book  on  India 
might  embrace,  but  the  object  proposed  in  the  writing 
of  this  work  does  not  necessarily  include  them.  Many 
readers  may  have  expected  to  see  more  on  two  sub- 
jects; that  is,  on  the  nature  and  doctrines  of  Hindu- 
ism, and  on  the  character  of  the  Hindus.  The  first 
of  these  topics  has  not  been  treated  of,  in  a  formal 
manner,  chiefly  because  other  works  are  accessible, 
which  give  a  sufficient  idea  of  it.  And  if  any  reader 
has  not  access  to  such  works,  he  may  learn  from  the 
incidental  statements  of  this,  a  great  many  of  its 
practices  and  much  of  its  spirit.  Further,  a  particu- 
lar description  if  its  deities,  its  rites,  and  its  sects, 
could  not  be  brought  into  the  compass  of  a  book 
smaller  than  this.  Less  would  tell  scarcely  more 
than  may  be  gathered  from  what  is  already  in  this 
volume.  And,  after  all,  the  great  thing  that  Chris- 
tians need  to  know  in  this  case,  is  the  mournful  fact, 
that  there  are  thirty-five  millions  of  people,  within  the 
field  of  our  North  India  mission,  who  are  following 
idols  and  Mohammed,  and  are  under  the  influence  of 
systems  that  lead  them  as  directly  and  completely 
away  from  God  as  the  arch-enemy  of  mankind  could 
desire.  Although  they  are,  after  a  certain  manner, 
a  civilized  people,  yet  they  are  as  far  from  the  truth  as 
fetichism  carries  the  people  of  Africa.  This  ought  to 
be  enough  to  excite  the  pity  of  all  Christians ;  and  if 
it  will  not  do  so  in  some  cases,  neither  would  the 
most  detailed  statement  of  Hindu  doctrines  do  so. 
The  character  of  the  people  of  North  India,  also,  may 
be  sufficiently  gathered  from  this  work,  without  a  for- 
mal dissertation  on  the  subject.  There  is  only  one 


IN  NORTH   INDIA.  255 

essential  matter  that,  on  review,  appears  to  the  writer 
to  have  been  neglected,  which  it  is  necessary  to  his 
design  to  add. 

The  races  that  inhabit  North  India  are  the  chief 
races  of  India  in  every  point  of  view.  It  is  the  home 
of  the  Brahman,  the  Rajput,  the  Sikh,  and  the  most 
valuable  classes  of  the  lower  castes  of  Hindus. 

All  history  shows  that  this  part  of  India  has  always 
been  its  head  and  heart.  Here  were  the  great  king- 
doms of  the  Hindus.  From  this  place  went  out  the 
influences  that  formed  all  the  systems  of  Central  and 
Southern  India.  If  those  systems  differ  now  from 
those  of  the  north,  it  is  only  where  the  effeminacy  of 
the  south  has  operated  to  make  Hinduism  more  lasci- 
vious and  ferocious.  The  Rome  of  Hinduism  is  in 
the  north — Benares.  The  great  bathing  places  are 
all  in  the  north — Allahabad,  Hardwar,  and  the  source 
of  the  Ganges.  The  holy  land  of  Hinduism  is  in  the 
north — the  region  about  Mutthra.  The  chief  and 
holiest  Brdhmans,  the  head  of  the  Kulins  of  Bengal, 
are  in  the  north — the  Kanauj  Brdhmans.  Musal- 
man  Empire  had  its  strength  in  the  north,  and  from 
thence  reached  forth  its  long  and  strong  arms  all  over 
the  peninsula.  The  English  army  of  Bengal  is  wholly 
recruited  from  the  north — no  soldiers  are  raised  in 
Bengal  proper.  One  who  travels  from  Calcutta  to 
the  northwest  will  notice,  after  reaching  Patna,  that 
every  day's  march  brings  him  amongst  men  of  greater 
physical  and  mental  vigour  and  stamina,  and  of 
more  and  more  independence  and  manliness. 

How  immeasurably  important  then,  is  it  that  this 
part  of  the  Indian  field  should  be  diligently  and  abun- 
dantly cultivated.  If  this  were  Christian,  the  Hin- 
dCiism  of  other  portions  would  have  no  standing- 
ground.  Influences  of  a  right  kind  would  go  forth 
from  the  region,  which  all  the  rest  of  India  has 
always  been  accustomed  to  follow.  And  we  stand, 


256  MISSIONARY  LIFE  IN   NORTH   INDIA. 

as  it  were,  at  the  very  foot  of  the  roads  that  lead  into 
western  China,  Thibet,  Afghanistan  and  all  the  coun- 
tries of  central  Asia.  If  North  India  were  Christian, 
what  influences  would  spread  from  it,  literally  radiat- 
ing over  the  darkest  and  most  hopeless  portions  of 
Asia !  When  a  Christian  is  acquainted  with  history, 
understands  the  position  and  character  of  North 
India,  and  spreads  out  the  map  of  Asia  before  him, 
so  that  he  can  see  what  grand  movements  our  mis- 
sion may  be  initiating,  it  is  enough  to  fire  his  soul 
with  courage,  perseverance  and  zeal. 


THE     END. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


"ZKS 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


r~ 


